The Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Telesphore Ndabamenye on Wednesday, September 23, launched Giseke Agricultural Irrigation Project, with an estimated investment of $47 million (about Rwf70 billion) in Gisagara District.

The project, supported by the Chinese government, will develop a 6.5 million cubic metre dam to irrigate about 3,000 hectares through about 48.8km of lined canals.

The infrastructure will improve farmers’ access to reliable water, reduce dependence on rainfall and contribute to increased productivity and food security.

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The project is also expected to improve farmers’ incomes, create employment, strengthen agricultural value chains and expand market access, supporting more predictable and commercially oriented production.

The groundbreaking ceremony was also attended by China's Ambassador to Rwanda Gao Wenqi, development partners, local authorities and farmers.

Minister Ndabamenye called on farmers and cooperatives to actively participate in the management and sustainable use of the infrastructure, with a focus on efficient water use, protection of facilities and modern, market-oriented farming.

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Gao highlighted the project as a tangible outcome of China-Rwanda practical cooperation and South-South cooperation, aligned with Rwanda’s agricultural modernisation priorities.

Irrigation potential

The government's target is to increase the irrigated area to reach 132,961 hectares across the country by 2029, effectively doubling irrigated land within six years.

This would raise the share of irrigated land to 27 per cent of total irrigable land, from the current 15 per cent.

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Currently, irrigation has been developed on 37,273 hectares of marshlands (30 per cent), 10,159 hectares of hillsides (4 per cent) and 27,791 hectares under SSIT (31 per cent).

In total, 610,595 hectares of potentially irrigable land were mapped at national, catchment and district levels.

More than 417,000 hectares of land with irrigation potential are yet to be developed, a gap the government says must be addressed to boost food security and climate resilience.

The potentially irrigable land includes 123,164 hectares of marshlands, 280,351 hectares on hillsides and 89,535 hectares suitable for small-scale irrigation technologies.

Rwanda needs at least 693.7 million cubic metres of water storage by 2034 to meet projected irrigation demand.