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The Rwandan government has earmarked 350 million U.S. dollars in a new funding program to increase agriculture financing in the next five years, Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente said in a report presented to the parliament in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on Monday.
Ngirente said the pilot project is to be implemented in 16 districts of the country and will help Rwandan farmers access agricultural loans at a low-interest rate.
Some 890,000 households, composed of mainly women and youth, are expected to be covered by this program, according to the report.
“Lending by commercial banks to agriculture and livestock farming remains low, accounting for only 4.8 percent of loans,” said Ngirente, adding that it is in this regard that the government has rolled out the project to help farmers access loans at an interest rate of as low as 8 percent and boost agriculture financing.
The agricultural value chains set to benefit from the new funding include rice, maize, Irish potatoes, cassava, beans, and horticulture farming.
Ngirente said the project is part of the measures the government has adopted to scale up agricultural production and ensure food security. Enditem