The private Sector Federation has recruited 30 extension workers in a move aimed at modernising crop agriculture and livestock farming.The workers will be based at districts in order to take services nearer to farmers under a four-year project, the federation added. Livingstone Byamungu, the Linking Farmers to Markets (LIFAM) project national co-ordinator, said the extension workers would help strengthen farmers’ associations and co-operatives, helping them transform into modern farming groups. They will also assist farmers access financial services and market their produce. About 5m euros (over Rfw4b) has been injected into the project that is also aimed at training farmers in enterprise management, market sourcing and developing market-oriented farming approaches, Byamungu said.The project is supported by The Netherlands government. It was launched about two months ago in Musanze district, Northern Province. Byamungu said the project would in the long-run improve production through enhanced skills and better farming methods. “We want to ensure that farmers take crop agriculture and livestock farming as any other business. This will facilitate the shift from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture,” he explained. Hannington Namara, the PSF chief executive officer, said the project would strengthen agro-business and improve farmers’ income since Rwanda is an agro-based economy.He noted that, according to recent research, a lot of farmers’ produce does not reach the market, meaning that “farmers do not gain from their efforts”.Jean Munyemana, the head of Rwanda Farmers Chamber at PSF, said the project would hasten the realisation of the goals of the second phase of the Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy.
