Stakeholders in agriculture sector have underscored that Rwanda is potentially able to bolster the production of agriculture sector and vowed to collaboratively endeavor to find solutions to existing impediments hampering agriculture.
The commitment was made during policy workshop on “Actions towards Good Governance in Agricultural Development” in which a study entitled "Governance Systems of Agriculture Authorization Processes : How Loopholes in Service Delivery Regulations Affect Agricultural Development ?" was launched. The event organized by Transparency International Rwanda (TI-Rw) brought together public and private sector, civil society organizations and other development partners on 22nd March 2019.
The study which was conducted on financial support of German Cooperation under its Decentralization and Good Governance Program (GIZ) revealed that the sector is still hampered by loopholes in service delivery regulations but indicate that there is a low level of corruption in accessing the services. This, adding to the government’s concentrated efforts, provides conducive environment to revive this sector that employs over 70% of Rwandans.
The research findings shows that the existence of the loopholes“causes problems to farmers in different phases phases of planting, harvesting and selling which later affects the availability, cost and access to seeds, fertilizers and pesticides stand especially at the planting stage.
“RAB’s strategy to mitigate this challenge is to promote local seeds multipliers whose number and capacity are still very low,” adds the study. It has also been shown that “the provision of selected veterinarian and agronomic services appears to be corruption free” and that the “ cases of corruption reported account for less than 1%”. On top of that, the respondents also commended government for making it possible to fasten access those services.
It also emerged, from Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), that sometimes there is a delay to begin the planting campaigns, hence results into “severe consequences on the quality” of crops, especially rice. The refusal and delay in granting harvest authorizations were also raised as another challenge to farmers and has led to crop perishing, particularly Irish potatoes
The objective of the research was to analyze the current governance mechanisms of agricultural authorization, determine the prevalence of corruption and other malpractices and assess their effects on farmers’ welfare and the sector at large. The study population consisted of maize, rice, Irish potatoes farmers grouped in cooperatives as well as livestock keepers, based in 12 districts.
Key facts concerning agriculture in Rwanda
The agricultural sector is crucial for Rwanda’s economic growth and reduction of poverty. It employs over 70% of Rwandans and serves as the backbone of the economy and accounts for 39 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP, Rwf481 billion in the 2nd quarter of 2018), 80 % of employment, 63 % of foreign exchange earnings, and 90 % of the country’s food needs (World Bank, 2013).
The agricultural sector remains to be the second most important sector that contributes to Rwanda’s economic growth after the service sector.