Construction works on the stalled $12.2 million centre of excellence for agriculture mechanisation have resumed after the contractor secured funding

This has raised hopes of bolstering the country’s agriculture mechanisation from 27 per cent to 50 per cent by 2024.

Construction of the centre, which aims to promote research and boost local production of agriculture machinery, started in May 2017.

However, activities were suspended after the contractor, Technofab Engineering Ltd, experienced funding shortages.

The contractor’s financial difficulties were also highlighted in the Ministry of Finance’s sector report, which was released in March this year.

When The New Times visited the facility on April 28, activity had resumed with a few workers deployed at the site.

More workers are expected to be deployed in the coming days once all the construction material is shipped in from abroad, officials said.

Completion set for June 2022

According to Minc Aimé Mutabazi, the agriculture mechanisation specialist who is in charge of the project, completion of the project is expected by June 2022.

The project is expected to benefit local and regional researchers in the area of agriculture and bolster technology transfer in agriculture mechanisation.

"It aims to support local manufacturers to locally produce mechanisation equipment, machinery and technologies appropriate for Rwanda’s soil and topography,” Mutabazi said.

Most of the imported mechanization machinery fails to operate on the hilly Rwandan farms, Mutabazi added.

"The centre also seeks to monitor certification of mechanisation equipment both those imported and those locally produced to ensure appropriate machines. The centre looks at carrying out research of machinery working along the whole value chain from land preparation to post-harvest handling.”

Once it is complete, many small-scale agro-processing industries will benefit while farmers will be trained on agriculture mechanisation.

"We will again work with universities interested in research related to farm mechanization.” he said.

Status of agriculture mechanisation in Rwanda

Agricultural mechanisation remains low among farmers due to limited land consolidation, limited access to tilling tractors on both hilly and flat land and few investors dealing in the equipment.

The government has also started to engage private sector operators to import power tillers in order to ease the cultivation of land for framers and help meet its agricultural mechanisation targets by 2024.

A power tiller is a walking tractor widely used for rotary or revolving cultivation which is the best choice for small and marginal farmers.

Power tillers can be used on small-scale land with terraces by using hands since they are not heavy.

Figures show that more than 60 per cent of the smallholder farmers in Rwanda have less than half a hectare most of which is hilly land therefore need affordable mechanisation technologies such as power tillers.

In their efforts to mechanise agriculture, some Rwandans rely on tractors—which are expensive for smallholder farmers and ineffective on hilly terrain.

Dr Charles Bucagu, the Deputy Director of Agriculture Research and Technology Transfer at Rwanda Agricultural Development and Animal Resources Board (RAB), says that power tillers will scale up agricultural mechanisation.

The government has pinned its hopes on the private sector to lead the drive.

Some young investors who studied agriculture in Israel and Rwanda recently teamed up to import these power tillers.