SOUTHERN PROVINCE

HUYE — The private sector has been advised to invest in agriculture in order to minimise reliance on subsistence farming.

Speaking during an Inter-University conference on the role of Green Revolution in improving livelihood and sustainable rural development, in Huye this week, the Director General of the Institute of Scientific and Agricultural Research of Rwanda (ISAR), Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, said there is need to bring the private sector on board through private- public partnerships.

Cyubahiro who represented Agriculture Minister Christopher Bazivamo, at the function, said that there is need for value addition to agricultural produce if farmers are to fetch high prices for their produce.

"We need to shift from high volume, low value to high volume high value kind of production if we are to ensure a sustainable rural development given the fact that over 80 percent of our population is engaged in agriculture,” said Cyubahiro.

Rwanda has embarked on a Green Revolution programme in the agriculture so as to improve livelihoods and boost economic development.

Strategies for the realisation of the programme have been put in place.

These include; soil erosion control, land consolidation, crop intensification programme, research and the establishment of extension linkages and institutional capacity strengthening.

According to Cyubahiro, land consolidation is not simple reallocation of land to remove effects of fragmentation. But it is "involves improving productivity and landscape development for rural development.”

The conference organised under the initiative of the Gate for Rwandan Agriculture Development- a National University of Rwanda community service initiative organisation, brought together participants from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAE-Busogo), the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology and Umutara Polytechnic among others.

According to Alexander Rutikanga, the organisation representative, there is a gap between researchers, policy makers and farmers.

"Through this initiative, we want to fill this gap by offering farmers technical support through demonstration of modern agricultural practices,” said Rutikanga, adding that the success of Green Revolution hinges on the availability of technical support to farmers in their agricultural practice.

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