Rwanda’s Agriculture recovery after the 1994 Genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi

By Jean Gabriel Uzabakiriho.

It is now a tale if one can remember the status of hunger Rwandans experienced in 1995, a year after the genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi in Rwanda. By then, Rwandans survived upon food donations from World Food Program (WFP) as many of farmers who were accounted between 40 percent and 70 percent were killed, others fled and many of the materials were damaged.

The country is now celebrating 25 years of liberation, rejoicing the step made in various life perspectives including Agriculture.

Dr. Semwaga Octave, Director of planning in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) says the liberation journey in Agriculture and animal husbandry has started with serious problems.

In the aftermath of the Genocide against the Tutsi, MINAGRI lost many key workers.

According to a 1996 MINAGRI report, between 40% and 70% of workers were killed or fled. Agricultural land, the use of fertilizers, livestock whether short or short had been greatly reduced. According to the above report, the area under cultivation in 1996 decreased by 22% compared to the area under cultivation in 1990. Cattle decreased by 80% and small livestock by 90%.

This led to a 50% reduction in food production in the country and 1990s production. The decline in production has made Rwandans more dependent on food aid, like the World Food Program (WFP) that provided food worth 61,608 MT in 1996 (WFP Report).

Trend in Agriculture and Livestock recovery

The policies and measures taken by the government have led to the growth of the national economy; this leads to the creation of many off-farm jobs. Agriculture and livestock farming employed 86% of the population (EDPR 1) in 1995, while it currently employs only 69%  as per (EICV 5).

In addition, the role of Agriculture and livestock farming in the country’s economy is increasing as the country develops. It was 44% in 1995, while in 2018 it was 29%. Total agricultural output has gone from Rwf702 billion in 1999 to Rwf1,934 billion in 2018. This shows that the gross national product in Agriculture has managed to triple (National Accounts, 2018) in the last 20 years. Food security status has increased from 76% in 2006 to 81.3% (CFSVA 2018 AND 2006).

The World Food Program (WFP) is now buying produce from farmers to help people from elsewhere abroad. Between 2014 and 2018, WFP purchased production in Rwanda amounting to 145,459 MT valued at $ 97,186,886 (WFP, Food purchase report 2018). The following table shows examples of increased productivity in some plants.

Table1: Yields for key crops per ton, a comparison between 1996 and 2018

Crop	1996	2018	Production growth
Beans (MT)	181,700	485,756	Quite double
Maize (MT)	64,400	424,204	Quite 6 times
Irish Potatoes (MT)	195,300	916,062	Quite 5 times
Rice (MT)	6,500	113,800	Quite 17 times

 Source: MINAGRI report, 1996 and 2018 Data Collection Research

Main agricultural and agricultural programs:

Agricultural Productivity Improvement Program (CIP). The plan consists of the following pillars (i) large-scale land consolidation to enable each region to cultivate its own crops in order to increase productivity and connect farmers and markets, covering an area of ​​870,076 ha combined in the 2019A season. The program has boosted crop production since 2008 (MINAGRI, 2018/2019 Performance Report)

Girinka program for every poor household in terms of milk production and access to organic fertilizers. This has led to an increase in milk production and an economy for cows that have access to cows and a better nutrition for children who take a nutritious diet.

In 2018, it left 353,598 cows already donated under the Girinka program. Milk production rose from 142,511 tonnes in 2005 to 847,178 tonnes in 2018. This is said to be a positive effect of the Girinka program and the increase in modern dairy cows (RAB Report 2018).

The national irrigation plan to irrigate the mountains and swamps in order to combat the drought that has hit some areas. This irrigated area has reached 61,333 ha (April, 2019) from 27,000 ha in 2012.

The erosion protection program was made using horizontal terraces. As of 2018, an area of 122,455 ha of horizontal terraces has been developed while it was 46,000 ha in 2012 (Performance Contracts 2018/2019)

National Farmers’ Advocacy Program for Fertilizers and seeds. The state is involved in starting a farmer to add fertilizer from the factory and used seeds. In 2018, 55,000 tons of fertilizer was used (Performance Report 2017/2018)

There is an extension of Twigire Muhinzi’s agriculture, where the mental assistants show the farmers how productive farming is done based on the directional field.

Pillars of Agriculture and Livestock revolution program by 2024

The reform of the agricultural and livestock sector was mainly based on policies and strategies including research and marketing for agriculture and animal husbandry, increasing productivity and coping with climate change, better markets and increasing productivity, improving productivity and ‘institutional interaction.

According to the Girinka program, milk production has risen from 142,511 tonnes in 2005 to 847,178 tonnes in 2018. This is said to be a positive effect of the Girinka program and the increase in modern dairy cows (Report 2018).

The number of cows has risen from about 692,000 in 1996 to about 1,293,768 in 2018 where about 62% are made up of white and mixed cows (RAB and MINAGRI 2018 Performance Report and 1996 Performance Report).

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