Large farming plots protected from soil erosion in Rwanda

78 percent of the whole cultivated land in Rwanda is protected against soil erosion, although the irrigation still does not appear to be a widespread practice across the country.

It is said that the every year soil erosion and other forms of land degradation used to rob the large plots of farming land especially in remote districts across the country.

The latest results of the third Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV 3) focusing on Agriculture show that the majority of Rwandan households are mostly harvesting maize, Irish potatoes and taro, while the proportion of those cultivating sweet potatoes, beer bananas and sorghum has decreased between 2005 and 2011.

The reports shows that nearly all cultivating Rwandan  households produce at least one staple crop on the whole available total area affected by the national land consolidation policy which is corresponding to approximately 141,000 hectares. Globally, when taking into account the principal market for sold crops, individual consumers are notable for buying sweet potatoes,cooking bananas and cassava for cooking, whilst rice and coffee are popular with cooperatives.

Although the third Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey shows that only 3 percent of cultivated land on a national level is irrigated, only three districts including Musanze (North), Nyamasheke (West) and Rubavu (West)  come on top of those areas  that are still facing challenges related to soil erosion compared to their other counterparts across the whole country.

The EICV 3 Thematic report on Agriculture is one of the ten elaborated thematic publications by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) with the aim to inform and support the development of the second phase of the country's Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS 2).