Today, 19 November, the Director General for farming from the Ministry of Agriculture for Rwanda officially opened the international farmers’ meeting. It is being held in Musanze district, in the North of Rwanda at the foot of the volcanoes and the national park. It has been organised by the local Initiatives of Change – Ubupfura team together with Farmers’ Dialogue.

The meeting is being attended by 130 participants, half of whom come from Rwanda and the other half from 16 different countries. Warm applause greeted the delegates from South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, the Congo and Mayotte. The Ugandan delegation includes a regional district commissioner, a representative of the Kingdom of Boganda (the main region in the country) and an agricultural journalist. Europe (France, Switzerland, Sweden and Great Britain), Australia and Asia (India and Cambodia) are also represented. The meeting is taking place on the premises of the agricultural trade union Imbaraga.

The Director General spoke about agriculture in Rwanda insisting on the strong desire of politicians to implement structures that will guarantee food security for the country, develop agriculture, combat malnutrition and poverty and increase aid for small-scale poor farmers. The numerous questions that followed and lasted for more than an hour, showed how interested the participants are in what is happening in Rwanda. The conclusions from the meeting will be passed on to the Director General at the end of the conference (Tuesday 22 November).

In her opening speech, Mrs Didacienne Mukahabeshimana, President of Initiatives of Change-Ubupfura in Rwanda, expressed the hope 'that this meeting will lead us all to a new beginning in our mission to feed humankind.'

Mr Jim Wigan, International coordinator for Farmers’ Dialogue and Mr Jamil Ssebalu, Coordinator for Africa, emphasised the importance of the commitment of each individual in this fight. This occurs through meetings and a change of motivation. For Jim Wigan this means 'putting need before greed, service before status'. It also involves working together to resolve the problems that farmers are facing. This is the challenge to be tackled at the meeting organised in Rwanda under the theme of 'Farmers – men and women – working together for food security'.