RWANDA – The IFAD through the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Small Livestock Markets (PRISM) programme has launched Rwf15-billion (US$15m) project in Rwanda, aimed to develop the country’s livestock value chain.
The five-year project is co-funded by IFAD and Enabel, a Belgian Development Agency and will be is implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB).
It seeks to resolve the shortage of animal feed in the country by making available the key raw materials for producing the feeds i.e. maize and wheat, which are also in high demand by the humans.
In addition, it will improve livestock breeds, mostly of poultry and pigs by improving breeding and artificial insemination centre, reports New Times Rwanda.
According to statistics from RAB, the country has a population of 5.3 million chickens and 1.38 million pigs.
It produced an estimated 9,000 tonnes of eggs, 37,300 tonnes of chicken meat, and 23,000 tonnes of pork in 2019.
The Rwanda livestock master plan targets to more than double pig meat production to 67,076 tonnes by 2022.
The project further targets to attract private investments in the industry to reduce imports of eggs and meat.
Rwanda produced an estimated 9,000 tonnes of eggs, 37,300 tonnes of chicken meat, and 23,000 tonnes of pork in 2019.
Rwanda Agriculture Board
Under the program, Solange Uwituze, the Deputy Director-General of Animal Research and Technology Transfer at RAB, highlighted that by 2023 they target to have 12,000 poultry and pig farmers and at least 9000 soybeans and maize producers.
Dirk Deprez, Resident Representative of Enable in Rwanda, said the programme seeks to stimulate economic growth and respond to the changing consumer needs of the Rwandan society.
In the vegetable value chain, the government recently signed an agreement with Japan Cooperation Agency (JICA) to provide quality vegetable seeds worth US US$950,000 to farmers.
The support, targets vegetable value chains of french beans, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cabbages, green peppers, eggplants and amaranths to be distributed and cultivated on approximately 4,200 ha across the country in 18 districts.
It is part of JICA’s contribution to homegrown solutions promoted by the Rwandan government and targets value chains that are subject to price volatility and are the most purchased in rural and urban markets.
In order to promote farmers’ self-reliance and scale up the benefits of this support, JICA will provide the seed for one-half of the area farmers intend to grow vegetables and farmers will commit to purchase the seed for the remaining half.
The beneficiary farmers will also be given technical guidance from extension officers in each district, using the experiences and technical skills gained through the Smallholder Market-oriented Agriculture Project (SMAP)1.
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