Securing the Harvest for the Smallholder Farmer in Rwanda: Fragmented or Consolidated Farmland Use?

Uwacu Alban Singirankabo (), Maurits Willem Ertsen and Nick van de Giesen
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Uwacu Alban Singirankabo: Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
Maurits Willem Ertsen: Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands
Nick van de Giesen: Department of Water Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: The year 2007 marked the beginning of a journey to secure food in Rwanda. The country introduced the Crop Intensification Program (CIP), which promotes the farmland use consolidation (LUC). This study assesses the effect of farmland use changes on the agriculture production. We collected data at four research sites and considered three agriculture years to assess the effect of the fragmented or consolidated farmland use on the harvest. The study confirms that the CIP/LUC program converted perennial crops, mainly banana plantations, into seasonal crops, which were prioritized by the program. Overall, we conclude that the shift in farmland use has created an increase in both the harvest and monetary yields of the prioritized crops. However, within that general trend, we observe differences: farmers with smaller and/or fewer farm plots did not realize as great a yield increase as those who joined the CIP/LUC program with larger and/or multiple farm plots. While contributing to an understanding of the ongoing agriculture transformation program in Rwanda, this study followed a statistical approach that could be used by new studies assessing the benefits and outcomes of development policies.

Keywords: land use; farmland use consolidation; agriculture production; Rwanda (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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