The Minister of Trade and Industry, Francois Kanimba was yesterday tasked to explain the fate of Mini Rwanda Investment Groups or Mini-RIGs as the scheme became to be known. This was during his session with the parliamentary committee on National Budget and Patrimony, where he had been summoned to defend his ministry’s draft budget allocations and execution for the previous fiscal year’s budgetary allocation. Mid-way through the session, the committee chairperson, Constance Rwaka Mukayuhi asked: "What is going on with the mini-RIGs? We used to hear a lot about them, now they seem to be silent.”The Mini RIGs programme was meant to encourage business people, at provincial level, to pool financial resources to invest in sizeable ventures where they could have both comparative and competitive advantages.In defence, Kanimba said it was an issue he has been discussing with the private sector."I have been discussing with the private sector about how we could reactivate them. From my observation, thinking about this at the level of the Province is not appropriate,” he said. He explained that at the Provincial level, people took up the idea quickly, but they are really not well organised to kick start projects, unlike in the districts, where business people appear to be more organised. He told MPs that what is required is for the government to step in and help initiate public -private dialogue."Many will pool funds together but you cannot tell them to go and conduct a feasibility study or business plan. To them, it would be waste of money. They think that it should be from the government.”"So, we have committed ourselves and we intend to work with the private sector to see how a fund can be created to help these associations grow and, there are some development partners who are excited about supporting this project.”Meanwhile, the lawmakers also wanted to know the situation of the country’s rice productivity, in the sphere of fighting hunger and cutting reliance on rice imports.Kanimba said: "We initiated a study on the assessment of the value chain of rice in Rwanda, with the help of people from Rabobank who have done it in many other countries. They showed us the problems we face, progress and to what capacity we can be self sufficient.According to the minister, the experts noted that if problems in rice processing and leakages in the value chain are addressed, the country’s rice production will significantly improve.Kanimba will return to the committee next week as he continues to defend his ministry’s budget.