1. What is the principal goal of “National Agricultural Policy”?
Quel est l’objectif principal de la “politique agricole nationale”?
The principal goal of this policy is to ensure sustainable economic growth through:
a modernized, innovative, professional and specialized family based agriculture,
generating employment and income and oriented to domestic, regional and
international markets
an agriculture preserving the environment and protecting the country’s natural
resources.
2. What do you mean by the “Ubudehe program”?
Ubudehe is part of the decentralized programme for rural poverty reduction, building on the
Rwandan tradition of mutual solidarity at local level. This programme allows communities to
collectively define their priorities and to actively participate in different development
activities through joint planning. These activities for example are agricultural activities, water harvesting, construction, etc.
The funds for the collective activities are transferred directly to
the grassroots level, and are administered by members of the community. Therefore, in
addition to improving their welfare the program makes the society responsible and
accountable.
3. Explain how the role of Local Administration is very important in social mobilisation and
organisation of farmers in decentralized extension system.
The role of Local Administration is very important in social mobilisation and organisation of farmers in decentralized extension system. In particular, Local Administration is responsible for:
Mobilisation of local communities;
Coordination of extension activities at District, Sector, Cell and Umudugudu level;
Training needs assessment and supervision of farmers training by extension service
providers;
Facilitation for local communities in the process of identification of strengths,
weaknesses, threats or opportunities of different actors in their area;
Facilitating organization of producers in farmers associations and co-operatives;
Collection and diffusion of information to relevant authorities and partners;
Facilitation and collaboration with other partners in agricultural development (NGOs,
private Sector etc)
4. What are the specific objectives of National Agricultural Extension Strategy?
The specific objectives of National Agricultural Extension Strategy are:
To promote farmer organisations and to encourage their participation in agricultural
sector stakeholders “concertation” platforms;
To strengthen technical capacities of Producers;
To improve services delivery to Producers in the perspective of gradual
disengagement of the Public sector from extension service delivery;
To promote a system of participatory research adapted to the needs of producers;
5. Define the structure of District Agricultural PlatForm (members, roles and responsibilities).
Members:
o MINAGRI Agencies (Substructures at district level)
o JAF/Agriculture and livestock members
o Private service providers
o CDC/ youth and women’s representatives (involved in agricultural activities)
o Agricultural Professional Organisations
o IMF and Banks
o Sector Agricultural Platform (SAPF) representatives
The members of the district platform are representatives of the different categories of
stakeholders. They are elected per category by the stakeholders themselves. It is the
responsibility of the platform members to keep their colleagues informed.
Roles and responsibilities.
o Consolidate extension themes and priorities of different sectors and submit to
national level
o Identify/consolidate capacity building needs of farmer organizations and
service providers
283 All the time, 1 To day
o Plan, monitor and evaluate extension activities in relation to the agricultural
seasons
o Propose to NAECO( National Agricultural Extension Committee) readjustment of extension programs, strategies and
policies considering the evaluations of program implementation and
reorientations emerging from SAPF (Sector Agricultural Platform)
o Coordinate extension activities of the agricultural actors
o Ensure dissemination and feed-back of agricultural and livestock information
among various actors
o Develop an enabling context to improve the performance of extension service
providers
o Mobilise resources
o Participate in district agricultural development planning
A permanent staff, accountable to the DAPF, with a clearly defined job description
will be hired to manage the secretariat of the DAPF.
