Problems and solutions of rice cooperatives in Rwanda

Abstract

Agriculture cooperatives are seen as an institutional engine to improve smallholder agricultural performance and they have increased very rapidly in recent years in production of tea, coffee, rice, maize, Irish potatoes, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and fish (United States Agency for International Development, 2013). Agricultural cooperatives play a great role, mainly in rural areas, in distributing subsidized inputs (especially mineral fertilizers and improved seeds), in joint production and in marketing (Chambo, S. A., 2009). Cooperative effectiveness depends on the natural potential of regions and the level of external technical and financial assistance. In high productive regions, cooperatives are profitable and enable members to invest further in order to increase production and income levels (Republic of Rwanda, 2006). This study aimed at assessed the problems and solutions of Rice cooperatives in KOIRWA Rwasave. The specific objectives were to determine the roles played by KOAIRWA in improving Rwandan livelihoods, to identify the challenges faced by Rwandan engaged in KOAIRWA and to determine their perception in the improvement of their engagement in rice cooperative. To address the above objectives, I conducted an interview survey in cooperative of Rice crop production Huye District, including 89 randomly selected interviewees from one Rice crop cooperative (KOIRWA). This included people with different origin, age, educational level, and only women. The study found that KOAIRWA provides some benefits to its members such as being able to cater food for their families, having their families’ health insurance and being able to pay fees for their children education. Hover, the study also found that few members can get some financial savings after earning. It was indicated that despite benefits gained, there is no easy access to loan from bank for some members as payment can be constrained by low income generation. Thus, new strategies should be adopted to enable access to loan and payments, adoption of technology for rice production and an improvement of the currently used rice seeds with seeds that match the climate of the area.