The Director General of the National Agency for the Development of Agriculture and Livestock (RAB), Dr Ndabamenye Telesphore, pointed out that Rwanda’s agriculture must be taken into account because it has a large impact on the country’s economy, where it accounts for 40% of the country’s economy.Country.
He returned to it on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 when he officially launched the Fifth African International Conference on the promotion of original agriculture that promotes the environment.
It is a conference attended by people from various backgrounds who promote sustainable agriculture including researchers, agricultural investors, government decision makers, businessmen, scientists and others from various African countries.
Dr. Ndabamenye explained to the participants of the meeting that he is coming to help Rwanda continue to implement the measures it has taken to develop agriculture because it has a major impact on the country’s economy.
He said: “Strategies to promote agriculture in Africa are very similar to those of Rwanda because agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy, accounting for 40% of the economy.” He continued: “It also shows the role agriculture plays in the lives of the people and in the national economy.” This meeting is a good way for us to see how the agricultural measures can be expanded and find ways to get enough production.
Rwanda already has measures to be self-sufficient in food where we have placed terraces, where we have planted fruit trees and everything else is to have so that we can cope with the changing climate and be able to be self-sufficient in food.”
The Director General of the Organization for the Development of Organic Agriculture in Rwanda (Rwanda Organic Agriculture), Chantal Dusabe, expressed that organic agriculture in Rwanda is progressing.
He said: “We have original agricultural cooperatives including coffee farmers, tea farmers, and pineapple farmers, all of which are mostly exported.” He continued: “Primitive agriculture is farming that takes care of the land that is productive and cared for, which will benefit the future. The world is facing various problems in the way we farm. If you look at it, there is a problem. Nshimyimana Ernest, a coffee farmer in Gakenke District, expressed that the council is beneficial to them as farmers.
He said, “The meeting is very important for the farmer because we learn, there is a lot to learn about original agriculture and we meet farmers in different countries so that what they have achieved we can learn from them and learn to create new things.” Dr Janet Edeme, the Director of the Department of Agriculture in the African Union (AU), expressed that the Governments of the countries should strive to establish measures to make agriculture more productive so that the people of Africa will be more self-sufficient in food.
He said: “Increasing production, it is good that the Government’s plans are respected.”
What measures to increase production have we implemented as a government to help farmers? The second is to assess and see what the farmers need if they need seeds or fertilizers, which are important but also look at the condition of the soil.
Currently, farmers are not encouraged to invest to use the land properly, so they should see if the farmers are comfortable with the production of the land they have.
RAB shows that 76% of the 13 million Rwandans work in agriculture. It is during the food security program, 80% of Rwandans get enough to eat.