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Rwanda: WB Pledges $35 Million for Agriculture
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Focus Media (Kigali)
7 July 2008
Posted to the web 7 July 2008
The second in a series of three projects funded through what is projected to be a 16-year Adaptable Program Loan, RSSP2, aims at revitalizing the rural economy and improving the quality of life of the rural poor through the transfer of technical and financial resources for sustainable rural development.
Launched in 2001 with a credit of US$48 million, the first phase of the APL (RSSP1) took seven years to complete. RSSP2 is scheduled to run for four years and will if successful be followed by a third phase of similar magnitude and duration.
"Given the tremendous importance of agriculture in Rwanda's economy, the country is unlikely to achieve its long-term development goals without dramatically increasing productivity in the rural economy. The three-phase Rural Sector Support Program represents a centerpiece of the country's agricultural development strategy," said Michael Morris, a World Bank agricultural economist and task team leader for RSSP1.
RSSP1 focused on building capacity for sustainable intensification of marshlands and hillsides agriculture, as well as development of post-harvest value-adding activities. The emphasis under RSSP2 will be on broadening and deepening the technical and institutional support and raising the level of investment to accelerate the pace of intensification and commercialization of agricultural production.
RSSP2 will have three components. The first component will expand irrigated area in marshlands and increase the use of sustainable land management practices on hillsides in order to increase agricultural intensification. The second component will support the commercialization of smallholder agriculture in targeted marshland and hillside areas by intensifying production, promoting value addition, and expanding access to markets.
The third component will support the Project Support and Coordination Unit to ensure efficient execution of administrative, financial management, and procurement functions; coordination of Project activities among the various stakeholders; and timely implementation and monitoring of environmental and land-use management frameworks mandated by World Bank safeguards policies.
Linking farmers to markets
"RSSP1 has succeeded in developing considerable capacity within MINAGRI to achieve sustainable intensification of marshlands and surrounding hillsides. The momentum that has been generated under RSSP1 must continue, with increased attention paid to linking farmers to markets so that they can participate effectively in Rwanda's more commercially-oriented agriculture of tomorrow," said Loraine Ronchi, an economist with the World Bank's agricultural and rural development department, and task team leader for the project's second phase, RSSP2.
By the end of RSSP2, it is expected that production of rice in marshlands rehabilitated or developed under the Project will have increased by 100 percent relative to the baseline. Significant increases in production of potatoes and maize are also expected on surrounding hillsides.
The Project will also invest heavily in capacity strengthening activities. By the end of the four-year project, it is anticipated that 50% of farmers in marshland and hillside areas developed or rehabilitated by the RSSP1 and RSSP2 will have adopted sustainable marshland or hillside intensification technologies.
Finally, the Project will support agricultural commercialization activities; by the end of the Project, it is expected that at least 20 cooperatives being supported by RSSP2 will have increased their revenues from sales by 50%.
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