Rwanda’s agrifood system: Structure and drivers of transformation

Xinshen Diao, Mia Ellis, Serge Mugabo, Karl Pauw, Gracie Rosenbach, David Spielman and James Thurlow

No 6, Rwanda SSP working papers from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: The paper’s forward-looking analysis assesses potentially differential impacts of value-chain develop-ment efforts on broad development outcomes. The analysis measures the synergies and trade-offs of value-chain development in the context of an inclusive agricultural transformation. Such analysis is conducted using the Rwanda Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model – an adaption of IFPRI’s Rural Investment and Policy Analysis (RIAPA) model to the Rwandan context. The modeling results indicate that value chains differ considerably in their effectiveness in achieving development goals and there are significant trade-offs among different development goals from pro-moting a specific value chain. The value chains that make a larger contribution to growth or job crea-tion are not necessarily effective in reducing poverty or improving dietary quality – for example, value chains for coffee and tea – while value chains that play an important role in improving dietary quality may contribute less to job creation – such as vegetables or fruits. While there is no single value chain that can achieve all development goals effectively, it is possible to select a diversified set of value chains that complement each other in achieving different development goals. This latter strategy is a more realistic approach to growth and development.; This paper assesses the structure of Rwanda’s current and evolving agrifood system and its contribu-tion to national development. The paper reiterates the point that Rwanda’s agrifood system stretches well beyond primary agriculture and creates jobs and income opportunities throughout the economy. While off-farm components of Rwanda’s agrifood system have generally grown more rapidly than pri-mary agriculture in recent years, growth varies across value chains of the agrifood system in the stud-ied period. The growth diagnostic in this paper reveals that it is domestic markets that have driven the recent growth in Rwanda’s AFS other than exports.

Keywords: agriculture; agricultural transformation; agrifood systems; analysis; development; development economics; domestic markets; employment; agricultural value chains; urbanization; capacity development; development policies; computable general equilibrium model; Rwanda; Eastern Africa (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr
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https://hdl.handle.net/10568/127083

Related works:
Working Paper: Uganda’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation (2023)
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