The government has allocated Rwf137.5 billion to the agriculture sector in the 2021/22 fiscal years, which represents 3.6 per cent of the total proposed Rwf3, 807 billion budget for the year. The spending on agriculture, which comes at the time the economy is grappling with its worst slowdown since 1994, has been deemed inadequate by industry policymakers, who have made the case for more spending to shore up productivity. It also falls short of the threshold of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, which recommends that every African country should allocate at least 10 per cent of its national budget to agriculture. According to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, limited funding to the sector risks undermining efforts to implement the fourth strategic plan for the transformation of agriculture . The strategic plan, which runs from 2018 through 2024, needs a minimum annual investment of Rwf450 billion to accelerate sector growth and trim the country’s poverty rate –currently estimated at 38.2 per cent—by a half. Rwanda, which generated $419.1 million from agricultural exports in 2019/2020, eyes $1 billion by 2024, and with limited funding officials have warned the target may be beyond reach. If funding is not increased, here are the six services that will be affected. Extension of agriculture insurance This activity seeks to provide subsidies to farmers for crop insurance on 7,420 hectares, and livestock insurance coverage for 81,982 farm animals including 9,000 cows; 3,000 pigs, and 68,982 chickens. However, if the allocated budget of Rwf268.5 million is not increased, this target will not be achieved because it needed Rwf814 million. These numbers imply that it received less than a third of the required financing. The project aims to cushion farmers against losses caused by disease and accidents. It also seeks to de-risk agriculture and free up financial institutions that have previously credit access to farmers Gerardine Mukeshimana, the Minister for Agriculture, said that this year sector has Rwf1 billion in commercial bank loans thanks to the insurance scheme. “If no increase is made to the allocated funds, the insurance coverage for livestock and crops will be lower and the situation will also lead to decreased loans and investment to agriculture,” Mukeshimana, told lawmakers last week during the budget hearing with the Chamber of Deputies’ Committee on National Budget and Patrimony. Crop Intensification Programme Interventions under the Crop Intensification Programme (CIP) are aimed at increasing the productivity of major selected crops including maize, beans, rice, wheat, cassava, Irish potatoes. In 2021/2022, the Ministry’s plan was to distribute 5,294 tonnes of subsidised quality seeds, 50,924 tonnes of fertilisers and 15,211 tonnes of lime to farmers. Other interventions planned in the project include support quality seed multiplication domestically, as well as soil testing on 5,000 hectares in line with the initiative to use appropriate fertiliser that responds to nutrient needs for different types of soils in the country. It also seeks to strengthen agriculture extension services to help farmers improve their farm yields. Total funding needs for this activity is Rwf35.6 billion, but, it was allocated Rwf19.9 billion, which means it got slightly over a half of the financing it needed. This amount include Rwf14 billion for fertiliser use alone, against Rwf23.1 billion that was required. With that, average fertiliser use would reach 60 kilogrammes per hectare next year from around 45 kilogrammes per hectare in 2020, while 67 percent of farmers would use quality seeds. With very limited funding, the ministry said that the target to increase farm productivity by 8 per cent for each selected crop will not be possible, and the Covid-19 impact will continue to weaken the country’s economy because of low agricultural production. Patrick Karangwa, the Director-General of Rwandan Agriculture Board (RAB), said that seeds and fertilisers are the main drivers of farm productivity, calling for efforts to bridging the budget deficit they face. Aquaculture and fisheries This activity was allocated about Rwf1 billion, yet it needed Rwf5.7 billion. Its target was to produce 40 million fingerlings (young fish that have developed to about the size of a finger), and to stock 14 million fingerlings into lakes and [fish] ponds. This activity, Mukeshimana said, could help the country to get rid of the dependence on fish imports. “If we are able to plant fingerlings in different ponds among communities, and in valley dams used for rice irrigation, it can contribute to increasing our fish production,” she said. “This can enable us to be self-reliant in fish produce, and be able to get a surplus for the market because we have the potential for [fish] exports especially in the neighbouring countries,” she said. Rwanda’s annual fish production was set to more than triple from 31,460 tonnes in 2017/2018, to 112,000 tonnes in 2023/2024, under PSTA4. Coffee production Claude Bizimana, Executive Officer of the National Agricultural Export Development Board (NAEB), said that NAEB had requested Rwf4.6 billion for coffee production in the next financial year, but, only Rwf220 million or about 4.7 per cent was provided. This small funding, NAEB said, will be used for ‘very urgent activities’ such as buying pesticides/fungicides and snares to tackle diseases and pests attacking coffee. The funding that the institution needed includes Rwf2.8 billion to subsidise 5,000 tonnes of fertilisers in order to increase coffee productivity. With the little financing allocated, Bizimana said, it will not be possible to carry out such activity. Bizimana indicated that this [fertiliser application] would help the country to achieve the expected produce of 27,000 tonnes of coffee and fetch Rwf78 billion worth of coffee export revenues. He explained it was estimated that lack of availability of fertilisers will likely reduce the expected coffee production by 13 per cent for the next year, and 30 per cent for the following year as coffee trees will have not received the required nutrients. “This is a major concern because it implies that we could not get the revenues [we were expecting from coffee exports],” he said. MP Christine Bakundufite said that there are main activities that should not be overlooked in the agriculture sector, citing fertilisers, seedlings and irrigation, indicating that agriculture would be a neglected sector if they are not available. “Given the financing allocated to NAEB, it would not be able to fulfil its responsibilities, including coffee production and exports in the coming years,” she said, citing old coffee trees that should be replaced as they are less productive. Horticulture development NAEB had requested over Rwf1.7 billion to support horticulture development. The money would be spent on interventions such as pesticides/fungicides with aim to increase the quality and quantity of horticulture produce, as well as look for new export markets for the produce and expanding the already existing ones. However, the institution received only Rwf128 million for those activities. This funding shortfall, NAEB said, will hinder the achievement of the planned activities, including lack of means to get avocado and macadamia seedlings needed to expand plantations for these two crops, as well as failure to generate $55 million (about Rwf55 billion) in horticulture export revenues.
