Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources (Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources)

The Agriculture and Livestock sector is one of the most representatives in the country and has a strong weight on its economy; however, to really exploit its potential it is essential to invest. Why is Rwanda an attractive destination for investors, specifically on this sector?

In general, Rwanda is an attractive destination due to its very conducive environment for investment. When it comes to Agriculture, the Government invests heavily into basic infrastructures in order to prepare the way for investors to come and invest in this sector. We are open and we invite investors to take advantage of these basic infrastructures and the networks, they can also contribute and this is a positive asset for them.

Furthermore, there exists a wide diversification in the Agriculture sector and investors can take advantage of the many existing potential investment opportunities. We are into food crops as well as export crops.  There are opportunities in whole value chains from production to processing and marketing. Rwanda’s agricultural products specifically coffee and tea are famous worldwide for their premium quality. Apart from that, we are also venturing into horticultural crops, an area with an enormous potential to exploit, and we are now opening a new window for the production of silk to compensate the lack of cotton. In a nutshell, the opportunities of investment in the Agriculture sector in Rwanda are currently innumerable.

One of the main challenges on this sector is to exploit the resources while remaining sustainable, how do you manage to have these two conditions in the processes?

Rwanda is a hilly country that can be prone to soil erosion and is also affected by climate change. We do not separate environmental protection from productive investments. That is one of the reasons we are currently investing heavily in erosion control and irrigation systems. We always keep in mind the right environment that we enjoy today and that we have to leave it in the same conditions for the future of our next generations.  We do short term strategic plans every four years to direct where we are going to orient resources and that is all the time inclusive of environmental sustainability in every aspect of what we do in agriculture sector. Whatever we decide to do, we have to make sure that we are doing it in a sustainable way.

Something essential for the good performances of the sector is to count with the right inputs, training and technology to keep the operations not only effective but also competitive. What are the main challenges that you have found to achieve this and how did you face them?

The main challenge has been technology. Agricultural technologies in Rwanda are not yet totally advanced, so we are still struggling to make sure that we are using the right inputs and agricultural practices. On the other hand, we are also developing some subsectors such as the seed subsector and trying to place it into the private sector, because it used to be managed by the Government. In this context, for instance, we are trying to attract private investors so that they can take advantage of our support. It can be said that Rwanda is a young nation of only 21 years old, so it is clear that we still have many challenges to face and that is the reason why we have to work really hard to try to catch up with the lost time. Investments in this sector are also oriented toward technology development in agriculture mechanization, use of IT in extension system to reach as many stake holders as possible. It is very critical that we keep supporting our research systems to generate agriculture technologies that are addressing real world problems.

In other countries there is a consistent dialogue and interaction between the public and the private sector, for example with the creation of clusters or by granting concessions. Is this the case in Rwanda?

In the case of Rwanda, both public and private sectors are very much involved for the sake of the country. For example, we have an Agriculture Chamber in the private sector federation where agriculture matters are discussed. In addition, we have what we call Agriculture Sector Working Group, where everyone is working together: Government, private sector, NGOs and whoever has interest in the Agriculture sector. This Working Group is the place where we meet plan together, to do our self criticism and to try to adjust what is not going well in the sector. It is indeed a strong debate with different perspective that aim to the same direction.

Below that Agriculture Sector Working Group there are other sub-working groups depending on the interests, so one can find, for example, soil sub working groups or seed sub working groups. With this kind of dialogues we can move forward in a parallel way. The interest of the private sector is growing in agriculture sector and we see this as huge opportunity for the sector growth.

Which companies are the most important ones within the Agriculture sector?

The Agriculture private sector companies are emerging now, mostly in horticulture, fisheries, input marketing, and a good number in agro-processing and animal feed manufacturing. The most important thing for the agro processing plants is to establish strong working relationships producer cooperatives to sustain their raw material supply.

In any case, we still have many needs but we are trying to solve them, for example, the Government is establishing the conditions to create positive PPPs.

Where are you currently focusing your efforts?

There are many things in which we are currently focused on. The first one is livestock and crop intensification, which is critical to generate the commodities that would fill into other components of the chain. Activities in areas of irrigation development, inputs supply, and erosion control, and mechanization development, animal feed and genetic improvement are needed to support production for food and nutrition security but also for income generation. The horticulture sub sector development is another area that we are focusing on. Moreover, post harvest loss reduction, value addition and market linkages are key pillars to keep the system moving.

The second one is technology generation and dissemination; research is a key area to backstop all agriculture and live stock production and its results need to reach the end users. Stimulating the private sector engagement in the sector is another area in which we are working hard. We still have some competitive advantages in some areas and products such as specialty coffee and tea and we need to maintain good quality.

Honorable Minister, looking at your professional background we find a wide experience on sciences and biotechnology, how did you do the transition into politics and what has your reviews experience taught you that you now apply on your daily management as minister?

Heading into the Agriculture Ministry from a scientific background is not so hard, because there is nothing I could find here which is beyond my reach.  So having been educated as a general agronomist and then specialized in bio technological sciences helps me to understand at least the production chain which itself is a huge bonus.  In addition, I do not work alone, the most important is to know how to fit into the team and all of us work as team.

To conclude this interview, Hon. Minister, our readers are interested in the institution but also in the person behind. In this context, what message would you like to send to our worldwide readers of eBiz Guides?

In the agricultural sector, we are really looking forward to partnerships. Rwanda has a huge economic potential, great opportunities, and a good business environment, and so is the Agriculture Sector. I will encourage investors to contact us and then we can give them more details, we have investment profiles and we are ready to collaborate.