The Executive Board of the Forum for Agriculture Research in Africa (FARA) has commended Rwanda for its efforts in implementing agricultural policies that uplift the lives of farmers. Speaking after field visits to Rulindo and Musanze districts, Dr Tiemoko YO, Chairman of FARA, noted that Rwandan farmers have success stories worth learning from.“The two projects we visited are successful and this shows that farmers have benefited from the different projects such as the orange –fleshed sweet potato which are supported by FARA. The main objective was to see how the projects are being conducted and discover the new challenges the farmers are facing,” Dr YO explained. He added that on return to the forum’s headquarters in Accra, they will establish new projects which will tackle other challenges farmers in Africa are facing. The field visit, meant to get feedback from farmers, was preceded by a board meeting which was concluded yesterday in Kigali. It was called to review the programmes and plans of FARA for the next 18 months from July 2012 to December 2013. He explained that Rwanda was chosen as venue for their meeting because of its remarkable progress in almost all FARA’s priority areas of intervention, including advocacy, improved access to knowledge and technologies to the farmers. He also said that it’s the first time the board meeting has been held outside FARA headquarters, in Accra, Ghana.FARA has been working with Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB), the Institute of Science and Agricultural Research Rwanda (ISAR) and other local partners to support agricultural research and extension in Rwanda since 2007. It invests US $ 700,000 annually in their projects in Rwanda. Its mission is the creation of broad-based improvements in agricultural productivity, competitiveness and markets by supporting Africa’s sub-regional organizations in strengthening capacity for agricultural innovation.
