The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), today 28^th March 2025, opened the first “National Conservation Agriculture Symposium” hosted by Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture (RICA) in Bugesera District.

Under the theme of “enhancing stakeholder collaboration to drive conservation agriculture adoption”, this symposium aims to foster stronger commitment among government institutions, development partners, and the private sector to promote and support national wide adoption of conservation agriculture. 

As he officially opened the first national conservation agriculture symposium, the Permanent Secretary at MINAGRI, Dr. Olivier Kamana, said that the event was organised to serve as a platform for fostering large scale collaboration and partnerships to accelerate the national adoption of conservation agriculture and contribute to improved soil health and development of resilient, climate smart, and sustainable food systems.

This platform also aims to provide an opportunity for adoption of harmonised conservation agriculture principles and practices that are fully informed by scientific evidence.

The Permanent Secretary at MINAGRI emphasized that Rwanda is committed to the implementation of Conservation Agriculture as a pillar in implementation of the recently launched fifth edition of the Strategic Plan for Transformation of Agriculture (PSTA 5).

“The Government of Rwanda is fully committed to the implementation of Conservation Agriculture as a pillar in the PSTA5 strategy. This symposium is a vital step in translating this commitment into tangible action on the ground, ensuring our farmers have the support and resources they need to build climate-resilient and sustainable livelihoods,” said Dr. Kamana.

He added: “This very first national symposium on conservation agriculture will constitute an encouragement to expedite delivery on our strategic goals of building resilient and sustainable agri-food systems”.

Deliverables of the conference will include, among others, establishment of a permanent forum for promotion of conservation agriculture in Rwanda, engaging all the key stakeholders including government, academic and research institutions, international institutions, and local international non-governmental organisations, farmer organisations, and any other important stakeholders. 

In December 2024, MINAGRI launched PSTA 5, whose main goal is to build resilient and sustainable agri-food systems. 

Under PSTA 5, Rwanda aims to increase area under conservation agriculture from 1,173 ha in 2024/2025 to 100,000 ha in 2028/2029. The required resources for implementation of the conservation agriculture goal have been costed at 2.4 billion Rwandan Francs.

Dr. Olivier KAMANA highlighted the importance of conservation agriculture for building resilient and sustainable agri-food systems, by saying that “Rwanda’s predominantly hilly landscape nature renders farming systems much vulnerable to soil erosion, leading to degradation of soil health”.

“The increasingly erratic rainfall threatens food security, yet conservation agriculture offers mitigation measures that are relatively more affordable by farmers in comparison with much more capital-intensive interventions. These challenges call for urgent and concerted efforts to scale the adoption of conservation agriculture for sustainable agriculture development,” he said.

Conservation agriculture is a set of agricultural practices that work to build soil health, manage water resources, and prevent soil erosion.

MINAGRI has called upon all stakeholders to join efforts with the Government of Rwanda in this regard.

The first national conservation agriculture symposium was organised through a close collaboration between MINAGRI, World Food Programme (WFP), Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), and RICA.

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