For Marie-Gorethi Murorunkwere, 50, agriculture had always been a subsistence occupation. She never imagined that she could comfortably live off farming, save, and even invest in other ventures. “I practiced traditional farming, mixing different types of seeds and broadcasting them. I ended up using so much seed,” says Murorunkwere, who lives in Giseri, Ngoma District. “My farm looked like a bush and, often, I didn’t harvest enough to last my family long.” Then, in 2015, Murorunkwere joined One Acre Fund-TUBURA, an agricultural organization that provides farmers with quality seed, fertilizer, and training to grow more food and earn more money. In her first season, her harvest more than tripled. “I was so happy,” Murorunkwere says. Over subsequent seasons, she joined a savings group where she contributes RwF30,000 monthly. Murorunkwere’s story reflects the journey of more than 600,000 other farmers who work directly with One Acre Fund-TUBURA. Through the years, the scope of Umuganura Day, our annual harvest and cultural celebration, has changed to reflect our country’s growing social, cultural, and economic milestones. While we primarily celebrate good agricultural production, the event also encompasses broader economic growth. For farmers like Murorunkwere, celebrating Umuganura is a testament to the role that agriculture plays in their lives. With government facilitation and the efforts of agricultural organizations like One Acre Fund-TUBURA, smallholder farmers have increased production and turned to commercialization as they build paths to prosperity. Going forward, we need to cast our gaze beyond what we’ve achieved to what more we can do. Agricultural production contributes one-third of Rwanda’s GDP and employs two-thirds of our working population. Accounting for some 70 percent of our domestic food production, smallholder farming holds the key to our food security and sustainability. How can we continue to motivate farmers to keep playing this crucial role? First, there is a need to scale up supportive incentives and policy reforms for farmers and agribusinesses. For example, quality seed and fertilizer are still out of reach for many. These yet-to-be-reached farmers could benefit from the ability to buy planting inputs through credit packages, allowing them to increase their productivity. So far, we’ve achieved this through partnerships, such as that between the Government of Rwanda and One Acre Fund-TUBURA to scale seed production, fertilizer distribution, and access to small loans that directly benefit many farmers. By expanding the reach of such collaboration, we can enable farmers to produce and earn more, and farming can continue to support economic growth, food production, and job creation for years to come. In tandem with increasing access to modern inputs, we also need to promote market access to ensure farmers reap the maximum benefit for their work. Contract farming models – where farmers and buyers enter into production agreements – are one way of linking smallholders to value chains. Such setups can improve access to technical assistance, quality inputs, and a secured market with stable prices. By integrating farmers into a more inclusive and profitable market system, we can enable farmers to invest in maintaining and enhancing their production, thereby supporting a virtuous cycle of increasing yields, quality, and profitability. But even as we focus on production, we must not forget that land, the farmer’s means of production, is a finite resource under constant threat from climate change. Happily, smallholder farming systems are often environmentally sustainable because farmers have strong attachment levels to local landscapes and ecosystems. Sustainable practices, such as integrating compost, crop rotation, and integrated pest management, are among the most promising ways to deal with climate change. Another way of mitigating climate change is agroforestry. When grown among crops, trees speed up the absorption of carbon and enhance the resilience of agricultural landscapes. Over the last decade, One Acre Fund-TUBURA has scaled agroforestry activities by increasing the number of trees planted by farmers we work with. These include fruit trees, such as avocado, which constitute an important part of farming in the country. Today, the organization is partnering with a network of thousands of extension agents to distribute trees at the village level across the entire country to help build a sustainable farming future for all Rwandans. Building on this momentum, it is possible to collaboratively expand agroforestry and other climate mitigation efforts to reach farmers in the entire country. As we mark Umuganura this year, it is important to remind ourselves that there’s no limit to what Rwanda’s agriculture can achieve for food production, food security, job creation, and helping to end poverty and boost prosperity. We just have to work to consolidate efforts by smallholders to create sustainable food systems to last us for generations to come. The author is Legal Counsel at One Acre Fund-TUBURA.
