R4D Rwanda

LDPI Working Paper 16. Consolidating land, consolidating control: State-facilitated ‘agricultural investment' through the ‘Green Revolution' in Rwanda

Wed, 08 May 2013 14:28 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Huggins, C. LDPI Working Paper 16. Consolidating land, consolidating control: State-facilitated ‘agricultural investment’ through the ‘Green Revolution’ in Rwanda. The Land Deal Politics Initiative, (2013) 26 pp.

Summary: Land-scarce Rwanda is an unlikely place in which to find ‘land grabbing’. However, an ongoing legal, institutional and financial re-configuration of the agricultural sector in Rwanda facilitates increased penetration of rural smallholder farming systems by Rwandan and international capital which may include some large-scale ‘land grabbing’ by foreign corporations. More often, foreign agricultural investment in Rwanda is likely to take the form of involvement in contract farming arrangements with cooperatives. Such contracts are facilitated by the state, which when necessary uses coercive mechanisms as well as highly interventionist strategies (such as regional crop specialization policies and mandatory land use consolidation)to create an ‘enabling environment’ for agricultural investment. The Rwandan government has adapted neo-liberal tools, such as ‘performance management contracts’, through which it makes local public administrators accountable for agricultural ‘development’ targets, which are often explicitly linked to corporate interests. Philanthropic activities by international development agencies are also often intertwined with the activities of the state and foreign capital, so that a variety of actors and objectives are collaboratively changing the relations between land and labour, and exposing smallholder farmers to regional and global markets. Such processes suggest that the global ‘land grab’ is only one aspect of broader patterns of reconfiguration of control over land and labour in the Global South, and that critical attention should be paid to various modes of ‘agricultural investment’, not just acquisition of large areas of land.

Topic Guide: Agriculture and growth

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 08:43 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Ellis, F. Topic Guide: Agriculture and growth. Evidence on Demand, UK (2013) 45 pp. [DOI: 10.12774/eod_tg01.mar2013.ellis]

Summary:

This is the first of a series of Topic Guides which provides resources to support professional development of DFID advisers and other development professionals. This Topic Guide provides an overview of agriculture and growth. It presents the issues and arguments relating to the topic, and illustrates these with case studies from Thailand, Ethiopia, Africa, Rwanda and Kenya. Links to the current ‘best reads’ are provided in an annotated reading list and signposts are given to detailed evidence and further information. A glossary of key words and phrases is included.

The purpose of this Topic Guide: Agriculture and Growth is to stimulate thinking about pro-poor growth in which agriculture is expected to play a major role. The Topic Guide outlines the propositions and empirical evidence in support of growth based on small-farm agriculture. This sector has a unique potential to accelerate poverty reduction while also stimulating non-farm economic activity. Eventually these processes result in a transition by which the impetus for growth is taken up by other sectors and the role of agriculture diminishes. The guide also points to the complementary role in poverty reduction that can be played by non-farm activities in the rural economy, and at some point by rural-urban transitions in which a steady shift of labour from agriculture into the urban economy occurs.

The Topic Guide makes essential links between aggregate ideas about pro-poor growth and livelihood concepts applied at more local levels of scale. The power of the livelihoods approach is its recognition of the different assets and skills held by different people in rural society, and the consequent different constraints and opportunities they experience. This indicates opening up multiple pathways for individuals’ more productive participation in the economy – including rising agricultural productivity certainly, but also diverse non-farm activities, and the barriers and prospects represented by urban migration. The guide provides examples of differing experiences with pro-poor growth based on small-farm agriculture. It also summarises arguments about land access, farm size, food markets, supermarkets, gender and post-conflict recovery in relation to both growth and livelihood dimensions.

Genetic Diversity of Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) landraces and cultivars from Southern, Eastern and Central Africa

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:33 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Kawuki, R.S.; Herselman, L.; Labuschagne, M.T.; Nzuki, I.; Ralimanana, I.; Bidiaka, M.; Kanyange, M.C.; Gashaka, G.; Masumba, E.; Mkamilo, G.; Gethi, J.; Wanjala, B.; Zacarias, A.; Madabula, F.; Ferguson, M.E. Genetic diversity of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) landraces and cultivars from southern, eastern and central Africa. Plant Genetic Resources (2013) : [DOI: 10.1017/S1479262113000014]

Summary: Studies to quantify genetic variation in cassava germplasm, available within the national breeding programmes in Africa, have been limited. Here, we report on the nature and extent of genetic variation that exists within 1401 cassava varieties from seven countries: Tanzania (270 genotypes); Uganda (268); Kenya (234); Rwanda (184); Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC; 177); Madagascar (186); Mozambique (82). The vast majority of these genotypes do not exist within a formal germplasm conservation initiative and were derived from farmers' fields and National Agricultural Research Systems breeding programmes. Genotypes were assayed using 26 simple sequence repeat markers. Moderate genetic variation was observed with evidence of a genetic bottleneck in the region. Some differentiation was observed among countries in both cultivars and landraces. Euclidean distance revealed the pivotal position of Tanzanian landraces in the region, and STRUCTURE analysis revealed subtle and fairly complex relationships among cultivars and among landraces and cultivars analysed together. This is likely to reflect original germplasm introductions, gene flow including farmer exchanges, disease pandemics, past breeding programmes and the introduction of cultivars from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture – Nigeria. Information generated from this study will be useful to justify and guide a regional cassava genetic resource conservation strategy, to identify gaps in cassava diversity in the region and to guide breeding strategies.

East Africa geothermal energy: Review of donor initiatives and current regulatory framework.

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 11:25 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Economic Consultants Associated Ltd. East Africa geothermal energy: Review of donor initiatives and current regulatory framework. Evidence on Demand, UK (2012) 33 pp. [DOI: 10.12774/eod_cr.oct2012.ecal]

Summary:

Geothermal energy development has recently become a popular topic in the East African Region. The East Africa Geothermal Energy – Review of Donor Initiative and Current Regulatory Framework provides updates on donor activities and the development of regulatory framework for geothermal energy in Rwanda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.

One of the main conclusions from this assignment is that there are a number of donor activities in the geothermal sector in all four countries. But the scale and significance of activity varies by country. None of the countries currently feature donor assistance that appears to holistically address geothermal development. However some countries, Tanzania for example, appear now to be starting to consider a more coordinated and strategic approach to potential donor assistance. There does not appear to be much regional cooperation, for example to share experience, approaches and models for practical geothermal development and power investment between countries.

The status of geothermal policy and regulations in the four countries is variable, as identified in the tables in this report. In addition, the commitment of the government themselves varies. The Government of Rwanda seems to be most committed to the development of the geothermal sector. The Government of Tanzania is now more committed to geothermal, after the speech from the new Minister of Energy and Mines that Tanzania has to start diversifying its energy mix, and that geothermal is one of the priorities. While the Government of Ethiopia and Uganda have shown interest in the geothermal sector, their power sector focus at present is mainly on the development of hydro generation and in the case of Uganda responsibility for licensing and development is with the Ministry of Energy and Mining that is more focussed on oil.

The Report is structured as follows:
-Section 2 provides updates on the status of geothermal sector development
-Section 3 provides updates on the regulatory position of each country
-Section 4 provides updates on donor activities in each country
-Section 5 summarises some of the key conclusions from this assignment.

Rwanda: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation, Fifth Review Under the Policy Support Instrument, and Request for Modification of Assessment Criteria

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 14:27 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Anon. Rwanda: Staff Report for the 2012 Article IV Consultation, Fifth Review Under the Policy Support Instrument, and Request for Modification of Assessment Criteria. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., USA (2013) 101 pp. [IMF Country Report No. 13/77]

Summary: Using the model by Buffie et al. (2012), the Rwanda team studied the challenge of scaling up public investment and the associated resource requirements. Model simulations showed that scaled-up investment could provide a boost to growth, but mobilizing the required resources for the scaling up would be challenging because of unfeasible fiscal and private sector adjustments. Simulations that incorporated a combination of increases in tax revenue, expenditure rationalization, and judicious resort to external borrowing were the most realistic in terms of implementation. The simulations also demonstrated the importance of relying, to the extent possible, on concessional loans, and of the efficiency of the public investment process (see Box 3 of the report).

Impact of municipal billing systems on revenue collection

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 07:29 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Sumedh Rao. Impact of municipal billing systems on revenue collection Governance and Social Development Resource Centre, (2012) 9 pp.

Summary: Query: Identify literature regarding the impact of municipal billing systems on revenue collection.

Key findings: Billing processes play a critical role in revenue for a number of public sector organisations, including municipalities. In the delivery of public services, for example, billing drives cash flow and is the key source of information for customers using these services. This helpdesk report shows that in many countries, reforming billing processes, coupled with strengthening collection processes, has improved revenue collection. Most of the evidence about the role of billing in revenue collection comes from the water sector.

Some experts argue that billing systems based on consumption are more likely to be paid by individual users. In the water sector, this could take the form of universal adoption of water metering or spot-billing. Other measures to improve revenue collection include computerising customer databases and billing systems. Eliminating human handling from all billing processes has been seen to prevent fraud and billing errors, and some advocate pre-payment as a means of increasing collections.

A number of case studies illustrate the improvement of revenues through better billing and collection processes; most of these are from the water sector. The case studies presented in this helpdesk report are from Bangladesh, Brazil, Burkina Faso, India, Kenya, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Thailand and Uganda.

Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa (2).

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:31 GMT

Production Year: 2012

Citation: Gildemacher, P.; Mur, R. Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa (2). KIT Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2012) 186 pp. ISBN 978-94-6022-233-7

Summary:

African smallholder farmers continuously seek to improve their agricultural enterprise, to improve their food security and to increase their income by making more efficient use of their assets. Farmers have to adapt to continuous, often unforeseen and sudden, changes in their production and marketing environments, and this requires ongoing innovation. Research Into Use (RIU), a DFID-funded programme, explored different approaches for promoting innovation in agriculture.

This book analyses the experiences of three RIU Africa Country Programmes, which used Innovation Platforms to facilitate innovation, and two Best Bet projects, which used a competitive funding mechanism to support private sector-driven initiatives to get research outcomes into use.

This review studied a selection of projects from the RIU Africa portfolio: the Nyagatare maize platform in Rwanda; the cowpea platform in Kano state, Nigeria; the pork platform in Malawi, the Farm Input Promotions (FIPS) Best Bet in Kenya, and the Armyworm Best Bet in Kenya and Tanzania. For each of the selected projects, assessments were made on how it changed the capacity to innovate, the household level poverty impact, whether the intervention offered value for money, and what were the main lessons learned. The review used a mixture of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, tailored to each of the cases studied.

Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa, Overview.

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 17:13 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Gildemacher, P.; Mur, R. Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa, Overview. KIT Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013) 36 pp. ISBN 978-94-6022-240-5

Summary: To enhance food security and income African farming requires continuous innovation in response to changes in the agro-ecological and marketing environment. Research Into Use (RIU), funded by DFID, explored different approaches of promoting innovation in agriculture. This publication analyses a selection of five projects from its Africa portfolio, the maize platform in Nyagatare, Rwanda, the cowpea platform in Kano state, Nigeria, the pork platform in Malawi, the Farm Input Promotions (FIPS) best-bet in Kenya, and the Armyworm best-bet in Kenya and Tanzania. Based on the realised changes in the capacity to innovate and household level poverty impact the value for money and main lessons learned were documented.

Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:44 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Royal Tropical Institute (KIT). Bringing new ideas into practice; experiments with agricultural innovation. Learning from Research into Use in Africa. KIT Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2013) 4 pp.

Summary: A selection of projects from the RIU Africa portfolio: the Nyagatare maize platform in Rwanda; the cowpea platform in Kano state, Nigeria; the pork platform in Malawi, the Farm Input Promotions (FIPS) Best Bet in Kenya, and the Armyworm Best Bet in Kenya and Tanzania were studied. Through a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods the change in capacity to innovate, the household level poverty impact, the main lessons learned and the value for money were assessed.

The succession trap: High growth Africa and the pitfalls of leadership change

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 10:50 GMT

Production Year: 2013

Citation: Kelsall, T. The succession trap: High growth Africa and the pitfalls of leadership change. Developmental Regimes in Africa (DRA), Overseas Development Institute, London, UK (2013) 4 pp. [DRA Policy Brief 3]

Summary: Since the succession issue is raising its head in several of today’s ‘lion’ economies, including Angola, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda, this policy brief examines comparative evidence from two regions, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, to answer the question: ‘Under what conditions does high economic growth survive leadership succession?’