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On 19th November, Mr Norbert Sendege, Director General of Production and Livestock from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal resources, officially opened the international farmers’ meeting held in Musanze district, in the North of Rwanda, at the foot of the volcanoes and the National Gorillas Park, in premises of the agricultural trade union Urugaga Imbaraga. He spoke about agriculture in Rwanda and of the desire of to implement policies and structures that guarantee food security, develop agriculture, combat malnutrition and poverty and improve conditions for small-scale farmers.
Of the more than 130 participants from 16 countries, half were from Rwanda. Warm applause greeted the delegates from South Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and island of Mayotte. Ugandan visitors included a regional district commissioner, a representative of the Kingdom of Buganda and an agricultural journalist. International visitors attended from France, Switzerland, Sweden and Great Britain, India, Cambodia, and Australia.
In her opening remarks, 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’'. She expressed her thanks to Froinçois Munyentwali from ACORD who provided financial support and later shared about the value chain as a way to create wealth for the farmer.
Jim Wigan, International Coordinator for Farmers’ Dialogue and Jamil Ssebalu, Coordinator for Africa, both emphasized the importance of the commitment of each individual in this task. This occurs through meetings and a change of motivation. For Jim Wigan this means 'putting need before greed and service before status'. It involves working together to resolve the problems that farmers are facing.
The Director General officially opened the international Farmers' Dialogue. He spoke about agriculture in Rwanda and plans to implement policies that guarantee food security, combat malnutrition and poverty and increase advice to small-scale farmers. He spoke about the problems, their priorities, programs and achievements. Agriculture contributes 34% to the gross domestic product and employs 87% of the population, but they faces many problems, soil erosion, reliance on rainfall, lack of private sector investment, unsustainable farming systems, low levels of education. High population density, small holdings of land per household and inadequate marketing. To address these challenges they have developed strategies through research into irrigation, intensification, improved post-harvest activities, livestock and promoting exports.
Shem Martin Ndabikunze, Agricultural Board Director General: 'We will be operating at area level, reaching out to people to conduct research relating to their needs, increasing farmers’ income is our first priority. We are promoting technology to increase farmers’ capacity, boost crop quality and quantity, In the process farmers will benefit from increased production, and buyers will get quality products at lower cost as supply and demand will be balanced'. He concluded saying 'agriculture is the top priority for improving the livelihood of people and National development.'
Africa Sand Dams Foundation shared their experience of water harvesting and conservation, using the sand dam technology developed in Kenya. Dams are built across a stream and then these water barriers are allowed to silt up taking up about 60% of the volume of the dam but greatly reducing evaporation losses Developing a community based approach to building water harvesting-sand dams, school water tanks, pipelines, terraces, tree planting; planting indigenous drought-resistant crops and improved agricultural practices. The speaker concluded his presentation by outlining the three pillars of water, soil and trees that enable farmers to invest time in further developing activities to increase food production.