Kayonza — More than 2,000 cassava farmers drawn from 115 cooperatives in Rwamagana, Kayonza, Ngoma and Gatsibo districts have undergone training in modern farming methods.

The training was conducted by the Great Lakes Cassava Initiative (GLCI), in partnership with Rwanda Rural Rehabilitation Initiative (RWARRI) and Catholic Relief Service (CRS). GLCI operates in Kenya, DR Congo, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

During the training, the instructors from GLCI carried out field trips around cassava plantations and taught farmers how to tackle cassava diseases and plant productive cassava cuttings.

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Kigali — The government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), yesterday, signed an agreement worth US$39.8 million (approx Rwf23.5bn) to support various agricultural projects in the country.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, the Minister of Finance, John Rwangombwa, said that half the funds will be a concessional loan while the other half is a grant. “IFAD is a key partner in the development of agriculture in Rwanda. The agreement signed today is in support to achieve our vision 2020,” said Rwangombwa.

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Access to agricultural information in Rwanda is becoming a reality with inauguration of an Agricultural Information Communication Centre (AICC).

Funded by the governments of Rwanda and Belgium, AICC aims at collecting, storing and disseminating information on the agricultural sector in the country. The information will be collected from the field and ascended to the centre for processing and dissemination. Such information may include market prices, pest management, and appropriate cropping practices.

Equipped with Information Communication tools like a website, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Management Information Systems (MIS), a digital library, and a modern audio-visual studio, the centre has been built in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.

Scientists, researchers, farmers and extension officers as well as business community can use it to search of information.

One does not necessarily require walking up to the centre to access the information because the information is also available on the website. Farmers who are scattered all over the country will be using community telecenters (centres with Information Communication Technology equipment like computers and internet) in rural areas to access the information.

The centre will help control inflation, according to the governor of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR), Mr François Kanimba. It will also facilitate farmers to locate markets for their produce and interact among themselves while exchanging information with the hope that it will lead to increased production.

Rwanda is putting in place incentives to attract investment in the horticultural sector to revive exports. Kigali had halted exportation of horticultural products following the financial crisis that hit the western buyers reducing their expenditure on luxuries.

Even before the crisis, exporters were facing high transportation costs to the international markets because of lack of direct flights from Rwanda to those markets. As a result, the cold room at Kigali International Airport (KIA) has been idle for more than seven months.

Construction of the Rwf500 million (US$ 876,885) high-tech cold room capable of storing 30 tonnes of fresh produce was funded by the Dutch government. The Rwanda Bonded warehouses also known as Magerwa, which maintains the room, had been charging Rwf72 per kilogramme stored in the room per night.

As an incentive to the exporters, the government was contributing half the amount while the exporter meets the other half.

This time, the government is putting in place a transportation incentive where it will be contributing US$0.7 on every kilogram an investor exports. The government is prioritising flowers, fruits and vegetables for exports.

The head of Production at Rwanda Horticultural Development Authority (RHODA) Mr. Eric Kabayiza says the incentives are meant to attract investors in the sector to revive exports.

Kigali — The distribution of fertilisers to farmers has played a major role in boosting the country’s agricultural sector and the economy at large, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, told parliament yesterday.

Appearing before parliament to answer questions pertaining to issues raised in the report by the parliamentary Commission on agriculture, Livestock development and Environment, Kalibata said that, compared to previous years, most farmers had now adhered to the government’s call to use fertilisers to improve on their yields.

“The use of fertilisers was so low in 2006 where only four kilograms were used per hectare. We, however, scored some improvement where now the use of fertilisers has increased to ten kilograms per hectare,” she said

Kalibata told the lawmakers that to encourage the farmers to use more fertilisers, the government had taken the initiative to use the bulk purchase method to enable farmers access the fertilizers at affordable prices.

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