Rwanda is hosting a four-day international conference aimed at scrutinising challenges and opportunities for intensifying farm production in sub-Saharan Africa’s humid tropical regions.
The conference has been organised by a Consortium for improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in central Africa(CIALCA) and Research on the Humid Tropics (CGIAR).
Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IIATA) notes that the dense population facet portrayed especially by Rwanda and Burundi demands an immediate sustainable agricultural intensification, otherwise, a war over food and space will be inevitable.
“Rwanda is the only country in the region not confronting the food crisis,” Says Earnest Ruzindaza– Permanent Secretary in the Rwandan ministry of Agriculture and Animal resources. All of Rwanda’s districts are food secure, and the surplus is exported to neighbouring countries.
The 1995 World Food Prize winner and Director of the Millennium Institute, Dr. Hans Herren called for a Green revolution that embodies a transition to sustainable, organic and ecological agriculture.
Herren argued that scientific research has not been linked to policymaking and consequently imbalanced food productivity prevails across the globe. He invited all the agricultural experts present to invest more in research and education.
Dr. Daphrose Gahakwa revealed an overview of Agricultural research for the past ten years which elucidates Rwanda’s achievement in developing nutrient rich crop varieties to combat malnutrition and poverty at large.
The research also aimed at sensitizing Rwandans about the core value of indigenous vegetables that had not been well marketed thus less preferred to exotic vegetables.
Gahakwa also explained that Ex-Situ and In-Situ conservation of both plant and animal resources, exploitation of energy quality of some crop residues such as maize and rice, as well as the usage of Biotechnology in tissue culture and disease diagnosis have been the underpinning modes of increasing Agricultural production.
Research conducted by CIALCA revealed that Rwanda’s Agricultural limiting factor lies in the poor fertility of the soils, along with the financial and physical constraints of accessing fertilizers.
The conference will close on Thursday 27, 2011 with participants determining the way forward.
Currently, CIALCA is led by International Institute for tropical Agriculture (IITA), Biodiversity International, Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of the International center for Tropical Agriculture (TSBF-CIAT).
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