At least 86 military students from the Rwanda Defence Forces (RDF)’s Command and Staff College in Musanze District are on a week-long study tour of agricultural projects across the country.

Briefing the officers on agriculture sector status in Rwanda, on Tuesday, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Innocent Musabyimana, the Permanent Secretary said soldiers are key partners in agriculture transformation.

The trainees were drawn from seven countries, including Rwanda.

He said, "They are committed in anything they do and their message is well received by the community. I hope they will continue to contribute to agriculture sector transformation as they have always done.”

Musabyimana noted that some of the biggest challenges facing agriculture in Rwanda include; climate and weather changes, low participation of private sector, too much reliance on rain-fed agriculture, and lack of professional farmers.

However, he said, several measures have been taken to address these challenges.

These include the crop intensification programme, promoting irrigation by availing subsides on small-scale irrigation equipment, land use consolidation and land husbandry.

Major General Jean Bosco Kazura, the commandant of RDF Command and Staff College, said the force is committed to contribute to agriculture development as they know what food security means to the national security.

He said national security can be undermined if there is no food security.

"As the saying goes, a hungry man is an angry man. In this case, the hungry man can himself be a threat to security or be the source of security threats. We hope that at the end of the tour, our students will understand the link between food security, sustainable development and military duties.”

Students on the study tour are pursuing senior command staff course at RDF Command and Staff College. They are from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya and Zambia.

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