Revisiting Rwanda’s agricultural intensification policy: benefits of embracing farmer heterogeneity and crop-livestock integration strategies

Sung Kyu Kim,Fiona Marshall,Neil M Dawson

doi:10.1007/s12571-021-01241-0

Abstract

The government of Rwanda is promoting agricultural intensification focused on the production of a small number of targeted commodities as a central strategy to pursue the joint policy goals of economic growth, food security and livelihood development. The dominant approach to increase the productive capacity of the land, crops and animal resources has been through large-scale land consolidation, soil fertility management, and the intensive use of biotechnology and external inputs. However, evidence has shown that many Rwandan farmers, who employ various strategies and mixed farming practices based on their specific economic, social, and environmental circumstances, face difficulties adopting the singular prescribed approach to become more productive, modern commodity producers. To empirically explore diversity in smallholders’ strategies and their contributions to livelihoods and compatibility with the recent intensification policies, we conducted household surveys and in-depth qualitative interviews in rural and peri-urban zones in Rwamagana district in Eastern Rwanda. Our analysis demonstrates how the dominant approach to intensification and specialisation overlooks the heterogeneity and dynamic nature of smallholder strategies. Moreover, our findings illustrate that a comprehensive understanding of farmer heterogeneity is necessary to explain the critical disjuncture between the government’s vision of modern agriculture and the ability of many smallholders to engage with this agenda and may inform opportunities to adapt policies to better align productivity goals and livelihoods. In doing so, we contribute to debates about the current framing of intensification policy that promotes Green Revolution technologies and emphasise alternative pathways for more inclusive and resilient agricultural development in sub-Saharan Africa.

Highlights

There is a renewed call for agricultural investment and production intensification worldwide, especially in subSaharan Africa, where the agriculture sector is a significant contributor to the national economy and provides work and food for most people living in poverty
We present empirical mixed-methods research in Rwanda to demonstrate how integrated approaches to crops and livestock in mixed farming systems can realise production synergies, increase environmental integrity, and serve rural livelihoods by addressing the diverse socio-economic contexts and challenges faced by smallholders
The findings from the household survey assessments indicate that the observed patterns of crop and livestock production differ between the sub-groups of farmers

Summary

Introduction

There is a renewed call for agricultural investment and production intensification worldwide, especially in subSaharan Africa, where the agriculture sector is a significant contributor to the national economy and provides work and food for most people living in poverty. Proponents of the Green Revolution (GR) promote increasing growth in food productivity through genetic improvements of crops and livestock, greater public investments in agriculture, closer integration of market value-chains and international trade (Conway, 1998; World Bank, 2008). In sub-Saharan Africa, this form of intensification is widely rationalised as an essential strategy to support economic development and poverty reduction and to meet national demands for food in the face of rapid population increase (The Abuja Summit, 2006; The Malabo Summit, 2014). A further key aim of intensification policies is to benefit the millions of smallholder families whose livelihoods rely to a significant degree on farming (Vanlauwe et al, 2014)

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