A look back at Rwanda’s agri-biotech uptake, drought and rice turmoil

The year 2024, was characterised by various events, including Rwanda’s progress regarding the adoption of agricultural biotechnology with the enactment of a biosafety law regulating the use and transfer of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and the launch of biotech programme. According to agricultural scientists, the scheme is expected to contribute to improvement in crop productivity. The law aims to mitigate potential risks GMOs may pose to biodiversity while enhancing agricultural productivity, according to its initiators. ALSO READ: Rwanda finally passes law on GMOs: What next? It places Rwanda alongside 11 African nations, including South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya, which had adopted similar biosafety regulations. According to scientists and farmers, the law is pivotal for transforming farming practices and addressing food security in Rwanda, especially as climate change intensifies, which has adverse effects on farmers and food security in general, due to crop failure. Rwanda’s focus on biotechnological innovation became more prominent on October 11, when Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), launched a five-year scheme called Rwanda Agricultural Biotechnology Program (Cassava, Maize, Potato – CMP), as its lead implementers. The programme – with more than $9.8 million funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a US-based organisation – runs from October 2024 to October 2029, It targets to introduce three biotech or genetically modified (GM) crops for cultivation in the country, the programme initiators indicated. The first is a virus-resistant cassava engineered for resistance to Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD), commonly known as kabore – a devastating virus that causes a reduction in the yield and quality of the staple food crop. The second is a late blight-resistant potato engineered for resistance to late blight, which is a fungal-like disease that depresses yields and generates dependence on chemical sprays as farmers try to get produce. The third is a drought-tolerant, stem borer and fall-armyworm-resistant maize engineered to protect farmers’ harvests from attacks by these pests, and amid dry spells. ALSO READ: What $10m agri-biotech programme means for Rwanda Abed Mathagu, AATF Manager of the Rwanda AgriBiotech Project and Programme Officer for Regulatory Affairs, told The New Times that the crops that are being introduced target households that are already growing them, by providing the new improved varieties with resistance to cassava brown streak disease, late blight to potato and fall armyworm and drought tolerance in maize in the market. “The total number of these households that grow these crops is estimated at 500,000. These households will access these improved varieties in the normal way they access seed and planting material,” he said. The initiative, he indicated, will use the same pathways to ensure the seed and planting material are available to these households, which ensures that the project does not distort agricultural input markets or create unfair competition. “The improved varieties will be available at the same cost as existing ones. Although we shall measure impact through specific studies, it is expected that households will save money, normally used to spray against fall armyworm, late blight, and the losses due to brown streak in cassava will be saved,” he said. Rice market challenges While biotechnology made progress, challenges in the rice sector emerged. Around mid-2024, Rwanda faced an issue of unsold rice. Traders had opted for cheaper imported rice, while factories struggled to sell the locally produced rice they had already processed, hence being unable to buy more from farmers. This issue caused delays in the purchase of domestically grown rice. In line with addressing the issue, the government pledged to purchase 26,000 tonnes of rice that lacked buyers in different parts of the country, and distributed it to the national school feeding programme, as a means to protect farmers from losses. The rice was bought through East Africa Exchange (EAX), a regional commodity exchange. ALSO READ: Govt to buy 26,000 tonnes of rice to cushion farmers from losses Farmers welcomed the government’s move, particularly in Rusizi District, where President Paul Kagame intervened by urging responsible public entities to solve the lack of market for the farmers. Obed Bunane, a farmer in Rusizi District – under a union of rice farmers’ cooperatives in the Bugarama valley – told The New Times that all their rice was bought after Kagame’s intervention. “EAX bought all the rice produce that amounted to 4,500 tonnes [in Bugarama valley, Rusizi], starting from August up to September; and the payment was made in October,” he said, commending Kagame’s support. Drought effect on crop production Other issues that occurred in 2024 include drought – as part of climate change – that took its toll on crop production in some parts of the country, especially Eastern Province. According to GDP data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, agriculture sector output grew by four per cent in the third quarter of 2024, with food crop production increasing by 2 per cent, due to the mild harvest of seasons B and C of 2024. The overall agriculture sector output performance is lower than seven per cent which was recorded in the second quarter of 2024, with the latter being mainly attributed to a strong harvest of season A of 2024 which saw food crop production increase by 8 per cent. Chrysostome Twiringiyimana, president of KOHIKA, a cooperative of maize farmers in Karama, Nyagatare District, told The New Times that farmers suffered from rainfall shortage in season B of 2024 – which ran from February to June. He estimated that farmers lost about 70 per cent of maize harvest as a result of drought, while bean harvest loss was even higher [in some parts of the country]. “On a farmland where we used to harvest six tonnes of maize, we got about 1.2 tonnes, where you could get one tonne of beans, you could get about 70 or 80 kilos,” he said, underscoring the importance of scaling up irrigation to ensure sustainability in food production. Normally, he said, the cooperative would sell about 1,200 tonnes of maize harvested from its 253 hectares, but it only supplied 213 tonnes because of drought. With the drop in maize production, he said that prices went up to Rwf550 a kilo, up from Rwf400 or less a kilo before (in the farming season A of 2024). With the development of irrigation infrastructure under initiatives such as the Muvumba multipurpose dam project in Nyagatare District, meant to help farmers water their crops, Twiringiyimana expressed optimism that the government’s efforts could help to cushion farmers from losses stemming from drought effects.

News

A look back at Rwanda’s agri-biotech uptake, drought and rice turmoil