The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration has partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources to implement a 5-year project dubbed ‘Capacity Building Related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries commonly known as ACP-MEAs3’. The initiative aims at boosting agricultural output through agricultural extension and farmers' capacity in agroecological-based farming practices through the Farmer Field School (FFS) approach, was launched on August 30. The project is also supported by the European Union ALSO READ: FAO boss on Rwanda’s journey to achieving food security The ACP-MEAs-3 project's objective is to integrate biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, along with sound management of agrochemicals, into Rwanda's agricultural policies and practices, both at policy and field levels. Innocent Karangwa, the National Director of African Institute for Economic and Social Development - Agri Service – INADES-Formation Rwanda, explained that the new curriculum encompasses best farming practices for sustainable agrobiodiversity management. “The new curriculum aims to challenge the old one which focused not on biodiversity. It only prioritized huge outputs without considering the negative consequences of chemical usage on farms,” Karangwa explained. ALSO READ: FAO champions integrated crop-livestock-fish farming in Rwanda INADES emphasized the use of organic fertilizers including Poultry manure, cattle manure, green manure field crop residues, composts, bone meal, household waste, Bio fertilizers, and more. Benefits include “Balanced nutrient supply, improving nutrient holding capacity, water holding capacity and soil texture and structure.” Key reasons for agrobiodiversity's importance in sustainable agriculture include food security and nutrition, resilience to environmental changes, genetic resources for adaptation, sustainable resource management, and more. ALSO READ: Agricultural economist on ‘best’ farming model for Rwanda Florence Uwamahoro, the Deputy Director General in charge of Agriculture Development at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), welcomed the new curriculum, highlighting its role in enhancing extension agents' understanding of biodiversity-agriculture linkages. Paracha Ajmal Mehnaz, the Senior Policy Advisor of FAO, emphasized FAO's commitment to embedding biodiversity values in the agriculture sector for sustainable agriculture in Rwanda. ALSO READ: How can Rwanda optimize land use to cater for its growing population? ACP MEAs is a partnership involving the European Union, the Organization of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS), UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and FAO, promoting environmental sustainability and strengthening environmental governance and implementation of related Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) in ACP countries, including Rwanda.
