Officials from both local and central government have agreed to put more effort in developing the economy by joining forces in the promotion of agriculture.

This was revealed by Christine Nyatanyi, the State Minister in charge of Community Development and Social Affairs, after a two-day meeting in Kigali that brought together the officials.

In an exclusive interview, Nyatanyi said that all districts had been requested to follow up on the farmers’ harvests and facilitate them in getting markets for their produce.

"We talked about several issues, but mainly the promotion of agriculture where we asked all mayors to follow-up and help their farmers sell their produce and to sensitise local businessmen to come together and buy the produce in bulk in places where cooperatives are still weak,” she said.

The leaders also agreed that the youth and the elderly be given special attention.

"We talked about the issue of the elderly and the issue of the beneficiaries of FARG. We asked that the exact number of beneficiaries of FARG be made public as soon as possible,” she said.

Nyatanyi added that the meeting also discussed the forthcoming elections and how far the preparations had gone.

"We were informed that some people have not yet acquired their identity cards and agreed that everything possible should be done to help those who haven’t received them to enable them register to participate in the August elections,” she said

Nyatanyi said that mechanisms have been put in place to periodically evaluate the progress of the agreed upon initiatives.

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