The Backbone of Rwanda’s Economy is Gradually Decaying: Who is to blame?

Understanding a countries’ or a region’s economy requires a thorough analysis of the production process and movements of the products from the producers to the consumers. Therefore; to decide whether the economy is growing or not, you need to compare the data with that of previous time or that of other countries or regions. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the economy is an area where there is production, distribution, trade, and consumption of goods and services by different agents. The main factors that determine the rate of production are land on which the production occurs, labor that will be involved, the capital, and entrepreneurship that enables exchange.
Rwanda’s aspirations of reaching the upper-middle-income status ($4000 annual per capita income) by 2035 and a high-income status ($12,000 annual per capita income) by 2050 is a tough project that requires smart approaches and more skilled manpower to achieve(World BANK, 2019). The country’s history, geographical location, population density, and human capital are among the factors that highly affect the projects aiming to develop the economy of Rwanda. According to The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 70% of Rwandans are engaged in the Agriculture sector with traditional subsistence methods dominating mostly in rural areas and 72% percent of the employed population working in this sector. Due to the high number of citizens getting a living from the sector, Agriculture is considered as the backbone of Rwanda’s economy (FAO, 2017).
A greater part of the population specifically in rural areas rely on subsistence farming an approach that is traditional and requires farmers to spend much time, energy, and other inputs in their farms to get productivity, however, this approach is not profitable and is counted as the cause of poverty and other challenges tailored to financial sustainability in rural areas. Regardless of the improvements such as the use of science, technology, and machines that increase the efficiency of farming, Rwandan rural farmers are still using methods derived from their parents who also derived it from their parents too before this high technology was invented. In his Blog, Danyell Odhiambo argues that subsistence farming is unprofitable because of “low uptake of modern farm inputs, high transport costs, weak farmer organizations, poor quality control and lack of information on markets and prices to sell surplus produce.” (Odhiambo, 2015)
The agriculture sector has the power to combat some of the pressing challenges this country and the continent is facing nowadays: poverty and youth unemployment. In their research Jingdon et al argues that there is a great link between agriculture and poverty because as the moe the agriculture productivity increases the more poverty decreases. The paper gives an Example of Asia, middle Asia and take China in particular as a country that rapidly reduced poverty by redesigning the Agriculture sector in a course of 50 years. Furthermore; the authors highlight how the sector can impact various groups of people specifically when modern techniques are used. However; the problem comes in for people who depend on the availability of the rain to get their crops to grow as expected. (Rehman, Jingdong, Khatoon, Iqbar, and Hussain, 2016)
Causes of The downfall of the Agriculture Sector
Though the sector has marked remarkable improvements recently, a number of challenges are still hindering the farmers’ financial sustainability. As discussed by the FAO, the following are identified challenges facing the Agriculture sector in Rwanda.
- Land degradation and soil erosion
- High rainfall dependence and unfavorable climate shock.
- Poor production techniques and inefficient farming mechanisms
- Weak processing capacity and higher value-added products placed on the market. (FAO, 2017)
Lack of necessary knowledge
Lack of youth involvement in the sector
“Yasubiye Kwisuka” roughly translated in English as he/she returned to agriculture is a Kinyarwanda saying that is used referring to someone who had been rich but suddenly becomes poor and needs to start from scratch for survival. Despite the high number of Rwandans engaged in it with a high dominance in rural areas, agriculture in Rwanda is portrayed as a profession for the people who failed in education and are trying to do something that will help them at least access basic necessities such as food and clothes. This perception that agriculture is for poor people who have failed in life discourage the young generation to engage or invest in the sector. As the journey of increasing literacy rate has not been in existence for a long time now, it implies that most of the Rwandan Famers are illiterate and they don’t have modern skills to incorporate in the sector to take full advantage of it.
Poverty
Though this blog points the ineffectiveness of the agriculture sector as the cause of poverty among Rwandans specifically rural areas’ community, poverty also hinders the development of the sector in a way that for farmers to get the inputs they need money or resources. Farmers need capital such as land, quality seed, machines to start their farming projects, however, most of them have their small piece of land which they get as a gift, heritage, or buying and they end up cultivating everything they think they will need to avoid hunger. Therefore; the lack of investment also affects the sector which directly affects the people and the country in general.
Education Curriculum
The education system doesn’t have room for agriculture as it focuses more on teaching students sciences and technology-based courses that are sometimes not practical in Rwanda. The education system of Rwanda is divided into four stages: pre-school, Kindergarten, primary, secondary, and tertiary schools. In both public and private schools the nearest level you can find agriculture-related courses is rarely at the secondary school level and university level which hinders the availability of passionate and knowledgeable human capital in the sector. If students were taught these skills at a young age, even those who decide to stop at the end of secondary school level would make use of it to sustain themselves and their families.
Government Investment
Lack of investment, lack of youth involvement, education curriculum that doesn’t favor the agriculture sector are all challenges that can be well addressed in a very short time if the government intervenes. It’s the government that has authority on the implementation of the education curriculum, therefore, incorporating agriculture-based knowledge will create knowledgeable human resources for the sector. It will also open doors for the young generation who want to join and engage. On the part of the investment, the way land is distributed among the people is also challenging. However, the government has already started addressing it by encouraging people to live in the planned settlements that will live a big space for agricultural activities and teaching society about the benefits of working in cooperatives which will enable the people to join their resources to get a fair benefit from them.
As a conclusion, both the people and the government have responsibility in the status quo of the agriculture sector and both parties need to work hand in hand to make sure that 70% of the population is not left behind economically. There is a need for urgent reforms in the sector that includes US$ 66.5 million deal with Israel to develop 5,600-hectare agricultural project in Eastern Province.
Bibliography
- World BANK (2019). Overview. [online] World Bank. Available at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/rwanda/overview [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
- FAO, (2017). Rwanda at a glance | FAO in Rwanda | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [online] Fao.org. Available at: http://www.fao.org/rwanda/fao-in-rwanda/rwanda-at-a-glance/en/ [Accessed 1 Mar. 2020].
- Odhiambo, D. (2015). The farmer definition of commercial agriculture: Farming for food and money – DryDev. [online] Drydev.org. Available at: https://drydev.org/blog/farming-for-food-and-money/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
- Rehman, Jingdong, Khatoon, Iqbar, and Hussain (2016). Effects of Agriculture Growth on Poverty Reduction, its Importance, and suggestions. [online] Researchgate. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309209587_Effect_of_Agricultural_Growth_on_Poverty_Reduction_its_Importance_and_Suggestions [Accessed 5 Mar. 2020].
You have mentioned that education curriculum is one of the root cause of the downfall of the sector, are there any other sectors that are thriving being pushed by the curriculum? What could be your suggestion to each stakeholder you mentioned in the blog to improve the industry.
Thank you orrietta, for taking your time reading this Article and raising your concern. It is really helpful for us and the beneficiaries of the sector we seek to make better.
Taking for example Tourism, it’s a sector that has managed to grow in the the last two decades. From nowhere tourism managed to leapfrog other sectors like agriculture and service that existed before. Tourism did achieve this by luck, the government a lot of money in it like the 30000 pounds given to Arsenal football club for advertisement. As Agriculture employs a a higher percentage of Rwandans, any effect goo or bad on the sector can affect the whole country, therefore; the government has to prioritize Agriculture and invest in it fairly.
Note: *My comments below intends to positively challenge you to do even more research as it is an interesting topic indeed. My comments, therefore, are not by any means intended to negatively challenge or discourage the fruits of your knowledge and research!*
1. How does an increase in agricultural productivity reduce poverty if you say that a big population is employed in the agricultural sector and the same people are living in poverty? In this case, whose poverty is reduced and to what extent?
2. Science and technology can also have an aspect of agriculture. Do you think it’s because the curriculum designers don’t know this or it is ignored intentionally?
3. With the efforts that have been invested in the agriculture sector by the government so far, do we have tangible results that at least give hope for the development of Rwanda’s agriculture sector? For instance, the sector is now contributing 5% of the total budget, how can this be compared to the previous years?
4. The 4th last paragraph blames poverty as a cause of the lagging development of the agricultural sector. Assuming all the farmers are to be given all the financial means they need, what prooves that many of them will stay engaged in the agriculture sector or they will switch to other sectors in an attempt to escape the “Yasubiye Kwisuka” concept? What exactly can be done not only in financing the sector but also strengthening people’s passion and love for agriculture?
5. Paragraph 2 mentions that 70% of Rwandans are in involved in the agricultural sector. Does this mean that all these 70% live free from hunger and have food security? From this 70%, how many are engaged in the sector for commercial purposes and how many do it for just home consumption?
6. According to the ministry of finance, these are the important things from the national budget of 2018/2019:
– The agriculture sector grew by 6%
– The service sector grew by 9%
– The industry sector grew by 10 %
– Industry and services are the main contributors to the GDP
– It concludes that agriculture contributes 5% of the total budget.
Now, the question here becomes, if the agriculture sector provides 5% which is equivalent to 123 billion Rwfs, who does that money benefit if it doesn’t revert back to help a few farmers to transition from traditional farming to modern farming?
7. Paragraph 2 declares agriculture as the backbone of the Rwandan economy;
– Do you think as the backbone of the economy it is prioritized as it should?
– Having it as the backbone, is it a result of the government focusing on it or it just happened naturally?
– Do we say that the sector is the backbone because of the number of people it employs or because of the contribution (In terms of revenue) it generates to the country?
Dear Oemba,
I can’t thank very much for your time reading this article. allow me also to extend my gratitude for the insightful comments and deep questions you raised, they’re helping me learn a lot and better understand how we can develop the sector that is labeled as the backbone of our countries economy. Following are answers/comments to the question you asked.
1. Though there are obviously many dots to be connected to find a long lasting solution to poverty facing rural population especially farmers, increased productivity means increased income which can be used to access basic needs which they lack. The main point the author wanted to raise is “a high percentage of the population are engaged in the agriculture sector. However; due to the practices/methods and the skills the hold. the productivity is not enough to help them move from one stage to another in terms of economy.” This point will help us to rethink what is going wrong and how we can turn things around. Additionally, of course if the productivity is increased it will be a win win situation for both farmers and the rest of Rwandan population.
2. I do agree with you that science and technology play a critical role in the agriculture sector and we can India as a perfect example. Through different industrial revolutions sectors like agriculture were able to be transformed for good but Rwanda still lags behind because we’ve not yet even introduced agriculture mechanization which was brought by the second industrial revolution. Having no agriculture related curriculum should be a loophole the designers of our curriculum failed to identify. To add on this, let’s be reminded that the curriculum being used right now was originally designed long time ago which makes it unable to solve today’s challenges.
3. Among the efforts made by the government include:planned settlements (Imidugudu), access to fertilizers, mobilizing farmers on suitable crops for a particular regions. Yes, these initiatives has tangible results for the sector. However, comparing our Rwanda’s agriculture sector with other counties’ like India or Brazil, it shows that we still have a long way to go.
4. The whole point of the Article is to hold accountable for the downfall of the sector that 70% of Rwanda’s population rely on for survival? Since; farmers are one of the main stakeholders the author were examining what’s happening on the side of the farmers. Lack of necessary skills, capital (land, grains, fertilizers, manpower, technology), and motivation are what hinders the work of the farmers. Providing only money will not solve the problem.
5. I will need sometime to look for the detailed data, I will surely get back to you once I have it.
6. I don’t thin I get well what you want to ask here. If you don’t mind you can clarify. To my understanding, the money agriculture contributes to the national budget is an expense not an income for the sector. Therefore; it can’t be used by farmers.
7. -As you can even see through observation Agriculture is not prioritized as it should.
-It considered as the backbone of the economy because a high number of Rwandans relies on it for survival. Also as you mentioned, it used to be the only sector the country’s economy relied on as other sector such as service and tourism are new.
– many points are considered, including income it generates, people relying on it, potential. read moore here: https://allafrica.com/stories/201012300160.html
Thank you once again Oemba
Thanks, Herman for your well and detailed responses.
Just to clarify on point 6, the money agriculture contributes to the budget I told you, I got it from comparing the previous budget and the current budget. This then means that if the government is spending on agriculture, then there is an income that agriculture should be generating to the government. In this case, two things come to mind: What the government is spending on agriculture and what agriculture is earning for the government. This is because, at the end of the day, the funds invested in the current budget are derived from the earnings of the previous budget.
An amazing analysis of the Rwanda Agricultural economy here. Howbeit, i found it difficult, as argued in your conclusion, to get how the people are to blame for the decay. A report by the Rwanda Governance Board (the country’s number one institution of research) has it that the agricultural sector has been the least performing for over two years. Through the 2019 annual Citizen Report Card, it indicated that part of the reason is the lack of needed assistance from the national government to the farmers. Vast majority of Rwanda’s farmers are still using outdated farming tools to produce. they also lack seed for certain produce and so find it hard to produce them in bulk. Added to that is the scarce supply of fertilizers and other farm treatment materia.
Beyond that, i would have loved to see a graph from the Rwanda Governance Board (preferable from the 2019 Citizen Report Card) instead of the World Bank.
But overall, you did an amazing job to job out the factors responsible for the decay of the sectar and how it could be fixed. That’s an act of a patriot. Keep it up.
Thank you Musa, for the insightful comments they are really helpfully now and forever.
Yes, among the biggest challenges facing this sector include the use of poor production and inefficient farming practices. Thank you also for recommending a source of more credible and detailed data. I will make sure that I check the CRC to better understand the clear picture of the sector as a part of the journey to the solution.
Thank you!