Agriculture mechanisation and value addition can enhance productivity for national and individual development.

A delegation of 36 military officers undertaking a course at the Nyakinama Rwanda Defence Forces Command and Staff College made the observations in Huye District on Friday, while on an agriculture study tour.

Lieutenant Colonel Gaheta Nzabonimpa said they wanted to see the status of agriculture and its benefits to the people and development across the country.

In Huye District, they visited a coffee factory in Cyizi and the Huye Mountain Coffee. They also visited the Huye Prison which grows rice on a 30 hectares of land.

"What we want is agriculture transformation and change in the daily livelihood of the people,” he said.

He said they saw efforts, that are worth replicating elsewhere at Mukunguri rice factory in Kamonyi District, where farmers work in cooperatives, and members get dividends.

Major Munduwire Mwamba from Zambia said cooperatives offered a success story.

"What I’ve seen here is that the community is heavily involved, with farmers transforming from subsistence to mechanised farming. Rwanda is doing very well and it is a great job,” he said.

Vedaste Mushimiyimana, the Huye District executive secretary, who is also the acting district mayor, said they facilitate farmers to transport their produce to processing units to get more money.

He also stressed the importance of cooperatives in agriculture transformation.

The officers urged farmers to embrace skills training and mechanised agriculture instead of using traditional farming methods if they are to increase agriculture productivity.

The district said there are tractors and power tilling machines that were imported but farmers who can afford to own them are still very few.

But Mushimiyimana explained that the government is putting in place subsidies to facilitate farmers, mainly through cooperatives, to acquire the equipment.

There are some agriculture technological equipment being used by area farmers like rice planters and rice weeding machines, according to local leaders.

Concerning irrigation technology, so far about 40,000 hectares of land in the country can be irrigated compared to about 600,000 ha that need irrigation, which calls for more efforts in irrigation techniques.

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