Harnessing the potential of agroforestry to boost yields and strengthen food security in Rwanda

Rwanda’s national agricultural policy seeks to promote the transformation of Rwanda’s agriculture from subsistence agriculture to market-based agriculture through highly intensified farming systems. However, low productivity of major staple crops on the country’s smallholder farms remains a key obstacle in achieving this goal. The country’s dense and rapidly growing population (currently at 416 people per km2 with an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent), puts pressure on existing land. Strategies to increase land productivity have become imperative.Agroforestry is a traditional farming practice that integrates trees into farming systems. The Government has been promoting agroforestry as an option for sustainable agricultural intensification in Rwanda. However, the adoption by farmers has been slow. By integrating trees with their crops, Rwandan farmers can obtain tree products e.g. fuelwood, timber, poles, stakes for climbing beans, fodder, fruits and services like improve the fertility of their soils, control soil erosion, protect biodiversity, diversify their incomes and reduce poverty.This policy brief is based on a review of Rwanda’s policy context with respect to agroforestry and identifies ways and means through which agroforestry adoption can be accelerated on a sustainable level.

---

• View source