Analysis of Change of the Marshland Value in Rwanda: Case Study of Muvumba P8 irrigation scheme, Nyagatare District

Abstract

The Government of Rwanda considers marshland as a valuable resource for the intensification of agriculture, which is required to achieve the goals of food security and poverty reduction as targeted in the agricultural policy of May 2000. According to the National Poverty Reduction Programme, for Rwanda to achieve an overall GDP growth rate of 6.4%, agriculture should grow at 5.3%. It further estimates that reclaimed marshlands have the potential to contribute to this growth by 0.5%. Therefore, the GoR strongly supported marshland development with the aim of boosting agricultural production, revitalizing the rural economy and reducing poverty.

Since the 1980s, Rwanda has been unable to meet its domestic food needs from national production; especially important has been the growth of rice imports to satisfy the demand for food consumption. Since 2000, the government of Rwanda with the development partners created projects that quicken the development of marshlands to tackle with food security issues. Since then Rice has been given high priority to be cultivated in the reclaimed marshes, though it is resulting in a steep decline of ecosystem services. RAB reports that in 2015, rice was grown on about 18,000 ha, the production was 99,000 T of paddy. In line with the support provided to organized farmers in the diversified value chain development, MINAGRI projects invested