Lawmakers are proposing radical changes in the agriculture sector, including the division of the Ministry of Agriculture into two separate entities as well as the establishment of an exclusive agriculture bank, in order to enhance the sector's contribution to the country's economic development.
They made the suggestions on Wednesday, June 5, during a parliamentary session where Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente briefed them on the success of the National Strategy for Transformation (NST1), a government program spanning from July 2017 to June 2024, entailing targets that the country had to achieve during that time.
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The PM outlined achievements in the agriculture sector during that period, including the establishment of agricultural insurance, a significant increase in irrigated land by 48,000 hectares, and efforts to combat erosion through creation of permanent terraces covering over 138,000 hectares, along with temporary ones on more than a million hectares.
Legislators expressed appreciation for these accomplishments but pointed at the need for more measures to bolster the sector's growth and impact.
MP Jean Pierre Hindura revived the debate on the need for an agriculture bank in Rwanda to enable farmers access low-interest loans that are less than 10 percent.
"In order for the agricultural sector to give better harvests and contribute to the GDP in a greater way, there should be established a specific agricultural bank responsible for lending to farmers at a very low interest that does not exceed 10 percent," he noted.
"This topic is always talked about but it never gets implemented," he added.
Ngirente responded, noting that the idea of such a bank has already been discussed by the government, but a lot of caution is required.
"If you make a special bank for agriculture and then it makes losses, it will kill the entire sector. If it is established, it should be a profitable bank," he said.
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However, he pointed out that there is a project that is set to be implemented, where farmers will be given loans at interest rates that are less than 10 percent, and this will help officials see whether the idea of an agricultural bank is feasible.
MP Hindura suggested that the government should also consider dividing the ministry of agriculture into two: a ministry in charge of livestock, and a ministry in charge of farming, for better results.
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The Prime Minister said he took of the idea, but pointed out that if there are problems in the agriculture sector, they don't necessarily arise from the fact that the ministry is not divided into two.
"We will take note of the proposal. But if there are challenges in the ministry of agriculture, they wouldn't be caused by the fact that the ministry is not divided into two. For example, today we have the ministry of infrastructure which does a lot of things including roads, electricity, and water," he noted.
Senator Pelagie Uwera called for more efforts to reach out to youths by providing them with land for farming, while MP Theogene Munyangeyo suggested that there should be more serious water collection measures so that the farmers will not stop farming even during the dry season.
"From June, July and August, many farmers are not working. I really want us to look at what can be done to deepen water harvesting," he said.
