Securing the Harvest for the Smallholder Farmer in Rwanda: Fragmented or Consolidated Farmland Use?

Securing the Harvest for the Smallholder Farmer in Rwanda: Fragmented or Consolidated Farmland Use?

Singirankabo, U.A. (TU Delft Water Resources; University of Rwanda)
van de Giesen, N.C. (TU Delft Water Resources; University of Rwanda)

2022

The year 2007 marked the beginning of a journey to secure food in Rwanda. The country introduced the Crop Intensification Program (CIP), which promotes the farmland use consolidation (LUC). This study assesses the effect of farmland use changes on the agriculture production. We collected data at four research sites and considered three agriculture years to assess the effect of the fragmented or consolidated farmland use on the harvest. The study confirms that the CIP/LUC program converted perennial crops, mainly banana plantations, into seasonal crops, which were prioritized by the program. Overall, we conclude that the shift in farmland use has created an increase in both the harvest and monetary yields of the prioritized crops. However, within that general trend, we observe differences: farmers with smaller and/or fewer farm plots did not realize as great a yield increase as those who joined the CIP/LUC program with larger and/or multiple farm plots. While contributing to an understanding of the ongoing agriculture transformation program in Rwanda, this study followed a statistical approach that could be used by new studies assessing the benefits and outcomes of development policies.

land use
farmland use consolidation
agriculture production
Rwanda

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ae725bb1-1486-4a82-8453-8b0839d9cb2e

https://doi.org/10.3390/land11112023

2073-445X

Land, 11 (11)

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2022 U.A. Singirankabo, N.C. van de Giesen