FAO officials hail farmers’ cooperatives

GATSIBO—Officials from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Wednesday toured various farmers’ agricultural projects in Rwimbogo Sector, hailing the way farmers work under cooperatives. The visiting delegation comprised of FAO officials from Kenya, Burundi, DR Congo and Central African Republic. The delegation visited a two hectare farm under maize and another four hectare one under tomatoes, both belonging to Duterimbere Cooperative. They hailed farmers for adopting land consolidation programmes, where particular crops are grown on extensive land. John Mugisha, cooperative president explained to the delegation how cooperative members are sensitised on government agriculture programmes. He explained that since the cooperative’s inception, members had managed to register higher yields that have improved their social welfare. “We started from low production but today, we are experiencing high yields,” he boasted.Mugisha thanked FAO for its continuous support to the cooperative. Josepha Mukamana, from FAO Rwanda, told reporters that they selected Duterimbere Cooperative among their beneficiaries because its members were recent returnees to Rwanda. “These people were evicted from Tanzania. They faced a number of problems including malnutrition and that’s why we decided to play our role by helping them,” she said. Cecile Gakima, one of the delegation members from FAO Burundi, described the agricultural achievements in the country as a milestone. “There is a decentralised system in the agricultural sector. I was impressed to see how policies are decentralised from top to the local farmers,” she said. Fred Kazora Murara, the Rwimbogo Sector Executive Secretary, told the delegation that sector authorities put more efforts in supporting residents to boost income generating activities. Ends