Over 14 Rwanda government officials benefit from KOICA’ CIAT training program

By The Inspirer.

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the premier grant aid agency of the Korean government, today closed a 4-day training program under the theme ‘Agricultural cooperatives to increase the farming income’,

The training was held at the Rwanda Management Institute (RMI) from October 04th to 07th.Since 1991,

KOICA has provided Rwandan government officials with opportunities to gain first-hand knowledge of Korea’s development experience to contribute to their individual development and their organizations through its CIAT program (Capacity Improvement and Advancement for Tomorrow).

This program is the third of a 3-years training series for Agricultural cooperatives to increase the farming income designed to share Korea’s experience in this field.

KOICA is targeting to train approximately 60 Rwandan Government officials in this field for three years in partnership with the RDB (Rwanda Development Board).

This program is specially designed to align KOICA’s flagship projects namely Sustainable Agricultural Productivity and Market Linkage Project(SAPMP).

SAPMP project is one of KOICA’s flagship project with MINAGRI from 2020 with budget of 10.5 billion Rwandan Francs. It covers development of 600 hectares of wetlands and 500 hectares of slopes, strengthening farming technology and capacity for 10,000 farmers, reducing agricultural loss by 12% and operating 15 cooperatives to enhance Rwanda’s sustainable agricultural productivity and market access, contributing to the improvement of income for small farmers throughout Rwanda until 2024.

Speaking at the event, Mr. CHON, Gyong Shik, the country director of KOICA Rwanda office, said “This program is carefully customized and designed to fit the needs and expectations of Rwandan officials in building the capacity of members of agricultural cooperatives and related public officials to promote agricultural cooperatives, establish agricultural value chains and revitalize rural economy. KOICA believes that as the course proceeds, its purpose has been established and will successfully be accomplished by the end of the course series. KOICA hopes that what trainees have learned over the past 4 days will help them a lot in their daily duties, they will be able to apply what they learned to their daily work.”

According to one of these training beneficiaries, participants learned about Agricultural Cooperatives in Korea, which has empowered them and strengthened their skills and capabilities.

He believes that it will help them contribute to finding solutions for this sector that the country needs to thrive in the current fast-changing world.

Since 1991, KOICA has been implementing its grant aid programs in Rwanda, disbursing about USD 150 million through various projects and capacity-building programs. KOICA officially opened its Rwanda Office in 2011.

KOICA currently has over ten ongoing projects in Rwanda in the education, agriculture and ICT sectors.

With the outbreak of COVID-19, KOICA has also supported the GoR in response to the pandemic by providing a mobile testing vehicle, walk-through testing booths and personal protective equipment (PPE) worth about USD 1 million.