Rwanda’s agriculture sector is expected to achieve over 6 per cent annual growth and become more market-oriented and sustainable, at the same time contributing to improved food and nutrition security for residents under the second National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), according to officials.

Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente, on September 9, told Parliament that under NST2 – which is a five-year government programme that runs from 2024 through 2029 – agricultural "productivity will increase by more than 50 per cent such that our country is self-sufficient in priority food crops and have a surplus for markets,” citing maize, Irish potatoes, and beans.

How will that be achieved? Below are some of the interventions to reach there.

Expanding irrigated land under agriculture resilience

Ngirente said that the projected productivity increment in agriculture will be driven by almost 85 per cent expansion in irrigated land from 71,000 ha [in 2023] to 131,000 ha [in 2029].

The government will put more efforts in different projects including those intended to build resilience to climate change, citing Commercialisation and De-Risking for Agricultural Transformation Project (CDAT), which seeks to develop and rehabilitate irrigation systems on more than 17,000 hectares, among other interventions.

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Chrysostome Twiringiyimana, a maize farmer from Nyagatare District, Eastern Province told The New Times that "increasing irrigated land is a solution to us,” underscoring irrigation’s importance in ensuring sustainable farming even during drought.

"With effective irrigation, we are guaranteed to grow crops throughout the year,” he said, calling for cheap and efficient irrigation technologies to lower production costs for farmers.

Chantal Ingabire, the Director General of Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said that expansion of irrigated farmland helps mitigate the impact of climate change on food production, especially during dry season.

Rwanda, she said, is promoting climate-smart agriculture practices that focus on sustainable intensification, resilience, and adaptation to climate change to ensure food security in the face of changing climate patterns.

Increasing fertiliser use

Another factor expected to support the increase in agricultural output is chemical fertiliser use rate in the country from an average of 70 kilos per hectare [in 2022/2023] to 94.6 kilos per hectare in 2029, and ensuring timely supply of such farm an input to farmers.

Also, Ngirente pointed out that fertiliser will be appropriate to different soils in the country to respond to specific crop needs through soil testing.

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Jean Damascene Ntawushobora, a potato farmer from Nyabihu District, Western Province, told The New Times that increasing the level of fertiliser use – when the rate is still low – matters for achieving higher yields.

Indeed, he said that some potato farmers apply around 250 kilos of chemical fertiliser per hectare – which they mix with organic fertiliser (dang) – to get good yields.

Agri hubs and food basket sites

Agri hubs and food basket sites for modern agriculture will be set up across the country, while existing ones will be reinforced, Ngirente said, indicating that some of them include Gabiro Agribusiness Hub, and Gako meat project.

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The Gabiro hub is located in Nyagatare and Gatsibo districts of Eastern Province. It was developed to cater for the country’s food security needs, and offset its trade balance where imports still outweigh exports.

It was initiated through a partnership between the Government of Rwanda and Netafim – an Israel-based firm considered a global leader in irrigation.

Gako meat project is Rwanda’s flagship project to increase quality meat production for local and export markets, according to its developers.

Livestock development

In line with developing the livestock subsector, Ngirente said, the government will continue supporting stock breeders to keep their animals in sheds (zero grazing), get improved breeds and feeds, retaining water for cattle consumption (such as through dam-sheets) and other needed farm machinery.

"This will go hand in hand with developing animal hubs and expanding the capacity of milk collection centres (MCC),” he said.

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Reducing post-harvest losses

Efforts will be scaled up in improving post-harvest handling, taking produce to markets, and increasing the capacity of agro-processing factories.

"This will reduce post-harvest losses to 5 per cent,” he said.

According to the 2022/23 annual report by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, postharvest losses varied depending on a crop in question, citing maize where it was estimated at 18 per cent, wheat at 20 per cent, rice at 15 per cent, Irish potato at 25 per cent; and beans at 11 per cent.

The report observed that farmers still had difficulties to access post-harvest facilities which caused "big losses,” and affected the quality of produce and their revenues.

Attracting more investment in agriculture – including its lending share

The government will continue encouraging the sector to invest in agriculture and livestock.

This will be done through scaling up strategies to de-risk the sector.

Strategies to that end include continuous support national agriculture insurance scheme [which was launched in 2019).

Specific financial services to the agriculture sector will be improved, Ngirente said, adding that it is projected the sector’s share of the total loans from banks and [other] financial services will increase from the current 6 per cent to 10 per cent [by 2029].

Meanwhile, under the fifth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA5), which covers the period 2024-2029, the government needs almost Rwf7 trillion (or approx. $5.4 billion) to achieve the set targets which include increasing sector growth, addressing malnutrition including stunting, and doubling the country’s agricultural export revenues – to about $2 billion from $857 million (in 2022/2023, which is the baseline.

PSTA 5 is aligned with NST2.