Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB) has stepped efforts to increase productivity of pig farming in the country to meet growing demand for pork.
According to Claire Hirwa d'Andre, a Senior Monogastric Researcher at RAB, Rwanda targets increasing pig production from 22,839 tonnes in 2023 up to 31,144 tonnes (about 36 per cent) in 2029.
Hirwa assures that the country is seeing a significant increase of people rearing improved pig breeds following the adoption of artificial insemination countrywide. She said 65 per cent of pig farmers have already adopted artificial insemination technology.
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Pork production and boosting its productivity is a government initiative launched in 2021. By 2022, only traditional breeds of pigs were used in Rwanda, Hirwa told The New Times, adding that more improvement has been seen in modern farming.
"There is a more drastic change in the pig farming industry. We’re having better pigs than in 2022. There is genetic improvement, and more efforts are put in by the government to modernise the industry,” she noted.
Hirwa said that the government injects around Rwf150 million per fiscal year in modernization of pig farming for boar management, purchasing consumables for semen creation, training of technicians and purchasing of artificial inseminations and te feeds which takes 75 percent of all other interventions.
Figures from RAB show that in 2021, 7,706 pigs were imported then increased to 10,941 pigs in 2022. In 2023, only 8,729 pigs were imported.
RAB targets to modernize 85% of Rwanda’s pig farming sector by 2029, up from 20% in 2021.
The country’s pig population in 2018 stood at 1.4 million while in 2024 the population decease up to 1.2 million pigs over shifting from traditional to modern farming.
Alex Mbaraga, vice chairperson of Rwanda Pig Farmers Association, said that the development of modern butcheries and slaughterhouses signifies the expanding market for pork in Rwanda, presenting lucrative opportunities for pig farmers to expand their operations and enhance productivity along the value chain.
"There is a booming market and high demand for pork, so it’s up to farmers to scale up their production,” said Mbaraga.