When you ask the question, \u201cWhat is agriculture for?\u201d The usual answer revolves around the symbolic and determined necessity of feeding the human body. In Rwanda, where the majority of the food is cultivated, farmers generate 90% of the economic activity in rural areas, producing food and fuel to improve livelihoods and are key to national food security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moreover, farming also has to account for more than simply satisfying people. With each dramatic advancement in the field to maximize production, the key is to ensure the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources, integrate natural biological cycles and controls and practice sustainable agriculture.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, in Rwanda, means pushing the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions, promoting long-term soil health, plant biodiversity, and resilience to heat and drought\u2014which help improve water and nutrient efficiency and increase crops. To take care of the earth as it does for us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emile Twayisenga, a maize and beans farmer in Burera, opened up on Rwanda\u2019s mission to minimize the environmental costs that come up with levelling up, \u201cBefore 2021, our only concern was to cultivate as much maize as possible in the little plot of land we had and go to market,\u201d Emile said, \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t always a success.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emile remembers \u2018disorganised\u2019 years of little harvest and desolation with the traditional production he and other farmers in the area faced. \u201cWe would wake up early, 6 to 7 am, and leave around midday. But after all that work, some seasons would bring no income for our families, mainly because of the intense sun and dying crops.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With 61% of Rwanda\u2019s soil being fertile for crop cultivation, Emile disclosed the strategy that they went forward with. The government\u2019s plan for the area sought to educate the farmers on the need to preserve soil for better productivity on their lush lands. A concept that invoked two planting seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The approach titled \u2018conservation agriculture\u2019 is based on three principles: Minimum soil disturbance, retention of crop residues or other surface cover, and use of crop rotations to reduce the build-up of weeds, pests, and diseases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first two principles require a drastic adaptation of current, traditional farming methods. For the third principle, as farmers in Rwanda often do not have enough land to rotate crops, intercropping is an option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI cultivate maize and beans now. That\u2019s new,\u201d Emile launched. \u201cIn October, we grow maize; the soil is good. And from February to sometime in the heat seasons, we grow beans. It helps ensure the soil is being used all the time and avoids its staleness.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The caveat of two seasons is an advantage for farmers. Season \u2018A\u2019 runs between October and January, and \u2018B\u2019, from February to June. They can grow two diverse sets of crops in a year, making the most of their relatively small plots of land and selling on harvest surplus to make longer-term investments like renting new plots of land or even purchasing livestock. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maize is grown in Season A and is a major food crop in the country, and most farmers prefer to grow beans in the shorter Season B. With this strategy, Emile\u2019s work has taken a turn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have more technologies now for better plantation and to reel in water efficiently, and hybrid seeds that make our lives easier because they adapt to the climate and require fewer resources that are not on the farm.\u201d he declared, \u201cI mean, we reduced our use of chemical pesticides and artificial fertilizers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result is that he could grow food without further damaging Earth\u2019s climate and biodiversity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rwanda\u2019s sustainable agriculture addresses many environmental and social concerns but it offers innovative and economically viable opportunities for growers, consumers, policymakers and many others in the entire food system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe rainy season was good this year,\u201d Emile said. \u201cThe previous years were different. The solar-powered irrigation systems were a good solution. The sun used to be the problem, but now it has become a tool.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rwanda\u2019s climate change vulnerability originates in the mountainous character of the country with an inherent susceptibility to soil erosion, combined with a strong reliance on rain-fed agriculture representing 34% of Rwanda\u2019s GDP (2014) and employing 90% of its inhabitants (both directly and indirectly). This leaves the country in a challenging position about climate change adaptation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the temperature increases, Rwanda\u2019s historically predictable rainy seasons are becoming increasingly unreliable and short, resulting in more frequent droughts and higher-intensity rains potentially causing progressively significant economic damage to crop yields and infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restoring the soil and improving the productivity of the agricultural land is the overall goal. It means increased resilience to climate change, reduced water erosion, halted land degradation, and increased land productivity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emile, like many other farmers, found great relief, safety and incumbent harvest in their agriculture when they also cared about not damaging the earth\u2019s climate. There is a promising chapter of agriculture ahead of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn the same land size, I can harvest around 5 Tonnes of maize. I can pay the school fees for my children and insure ourselves against illness and loss of income,\u201d Emile muttered, \u201cI\u2019m sure climate change won\u2019t hurt us so much anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you ask the question, \u201cWhat is agriculture for?\u201d The usual answer revolves around the symbolic and determined necessity of feeding the human body. In Rwanda, where the majority of the food is cultivated, farmers generate 90% of the economic activity in rural areas, producing food and fuel to improve livelihoods and are key to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":8243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[105,98],"ppma_author":[119],"class_list":{"0":"post-8242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology-and-innovation","8":"tag-culture","9":"tag-from-the-magazine"},"yoast_head":"\n