0

EVENT REPORT: 4TH

RWANDA NATIONAL REFERENCE GROUP

MEETING

CAMPAIGNING

FOR CHANGE

JUNE 29, 2013

LA PALISSE HOTEL, KIGALI,

RWANDA

1

REPORT OF THE 4TH NRG MEETING OF RWANDA

“Mainstreaming climate change adaptation & mitigation in agriculture and trade processes: Campaigning for Change”

1. Introduction

The 4th NRG meeting of Rwanda on “Mainstreaming climate change adaptation & mitigation in agriculture and trade processes: Campaigning for Change” was organized by ACORD Rwanda in collaboration with CUTS International Geneva on July 29th, 2012 at La Palisse Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. The meeting was attended by the members of the PACT EAC Rwanda National Reference Group (NRG) and the Group was gathering for the fourth (4th) time to discuss related progress and how to move forward but most especially to focus on key areas for advocacy and campaigning for change.

2. Opening of the Meeting

The meeting was facilitated by Mr. Robert SSALI, Commissioner at the Rwanda

National Law Reform Commission

(RNLRC) and it was officially opened by

Mr. Nathan GASHAIJA, the Director of

Economic Development in the Ministry of

EAC Affairs, the Republic of Rwanda. In

his welcoming and introductory remarks,

the Country Director of ACORD Rwanda

Mr. Francois MUNYENTWARI thanked

the participants for responding to the

invitation and coming for the meeting. He

also thanked the Representative of the

Ministry (MINEAC), Mr. Nathan

GASHAIJA and the Ministry in general for the continued support. In his remarks, the

Country Director explained that much has been done so far in terms of research and

information sharing and that now should be the time to recommend specific actions

to be advocated for and campaigned for change. While thanking the participants for

availing time to attend, he reminded them that climate change continues to be one of

the biggest challenges facing mankind in the 21st Century and beyond hence the

need to face it and mobilize efforts to deal with it. He requested for active

participation and wished all the participants fruitful deliberations.

In His key note address, the EAC Affairs Ministry representative, Mr. Nathan

GASHAIJA thanked ACORD Rwanda and its partners for the excellent organisation

2

of the important meeting and also thanked the participants for coming. He pointed

out that “Mainstreaming climate change adaptation & mitigation in agriculture and

trade processes: Campaigning for Change” is a timely subject matter deserving

dialogue and genuine discussions to find practical measures as solutions. He

reiterated the Ministry’s continued commitment at the policy level to partner with

relevant stakeholders to come up with solutions. He pointed out that Rwanda is

committed to working with relevant stakeholders in adopting practical solutions and

measures both at the national and regional levels. He also emphasised the genuine

commitment at the regional

level by the EAC Partner States

in line with the EAC Treaty

Provisions. He then thanked

ACORD-Rwanda and everyone

present and officially declared

the meeting open as he wished

participants successful

deliberations.

He also reminded the

participants that the Ministry of

EAC Affairs in Rwanda is private centred, and the EAC treaty states it clearly that the

EAC is people centred and private sector driven thus the treaty caters for that policy

that they are promoting because it talks about the private sector.

3. Key/ Main Presentations

3.1. “Mainstreaming climate change adaptation & mitigation in agriculture

and trade processes

This presentation was made by Mr. Alphonse MUTABAZI (Climate Change Expert).

He began by informing the meeting that we have floods and landslides that are

mostly affecting this country and trade in particular, climate change and food

insecurity. He illustrated by showing to the participants some places that are being

affected;

a) Nyamagabe has been effected by landslides and road damages;

b) In Gisagara, there is a valley with massive crop loss that happened in May

2012;

c) In Musanze, there is a new market that needs storm water management; and

d) In Ngororero there is a lot of landslides and erosion that affects agriculture and

trade.

3

He pointed out that, there is a need to see how these problems can be controlled and therefore for any activity to be carried out we have to consider how they affect the climate change. For example, it was pointed out that, there is a need to be mindful of the relevant activities and their related impact, like the energy use and agriculture productivity, wood energy, the use of charcoal by burning trees in this process, emitting the atmosphere, lack of a appropriate technology, use of petroleum products to generate electricity – all these affect the climate change.

He summarized the key issues as follows;

That the energy cost in

Rwanda is the highest

in the East African

hence there is a need

to identify appropriate

technology transfer to

clear the energy use;

High cost of energy

land caps the climate

transformation for trade

and export, for

example, (at Mulindi Tea Factory there is a big tree that was cut to get fire

wood – though they wanted fire wood this affected climate change, like

reducing soil protection for agricultural transformation).

Rwanda has policies and strategies which are positively contributing to

agriculture production and enhancing trade as well as reducing carbon

mission to enhance climate change. These include; National Energy Policy,

National Trade Policy, National Strategy for Climate Change and Green

Growth. These have helped to improve on the agriculture sector while

preserving the environment.

There are specific programs to develop capacity in climate change. For

example, the FORERWA fund that has helped to contribute to sustainable

and equitable finance and further strengthen national programs, private sector

initiative to address the current and future environment, climate change and

other development related changes and opportunities.

There are some working reports that are being done to show the national

incentives based on climate resilience and building related programs.

Technology needs assessment (TNA) and technology action plan for climate

change mitigation and adaptation: To identify and prioritize through country

driven participatory process, technologies, that can contribute to mitigation

and adaptation goals of Rwanda while meeting its national sustainable

development goals and priorities.

Rwanda already has a climate change strategy approved by the cabinet and

EAC has a CC policy approved by the summit.

4

Again it was pointed out that, there are some good relevant policies in place

but are not fully implemented hence the need for advocating for effective

implementation.

3.2. Effective Partnerships between Small-scale Farmers’ Value chains

and the private sector

This presentation was made by Mr. John Bosco KANYANGOGA (International Trade

Expert).

He summarized his presentation as follows;

The relevant policies in Rwanda are already in place. These policies include;

the Vision 2020, EDPRS II, National Trade Policy, SMEs Development Policy,

Rural Sector Support Strategies, etc

There is a need to strengthen the network of key actors, who include:

MINAGRI, Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation (RGCC), Big traders,

Small traders, Farmers, East Africa Commodities Exchanges (EAX), EAGC,

WFP, etc.

The most important and necessary support for small farmers is; Market

access and related incentives, Soft loans, Rural infrastructure – connectivity

and energy, Irrigation and fertilizers.

A case study on ensuring that real linkages work was presented, illustrating

the example of Shekina Enterprises.

The key issues for campaigning for Change (areas of advocacy) were pointed

out as well.

Linking small-scale farmers with Rwanda's entrepreneurs (Shekina Ets case)

1. Shekina Enterprises, is a medium-sized company set up in 2007 by Damien

Mbatezimana;

2. The Company has focused on the export markets of Europe, Canada, and the

USA.

3. Already exporting dried vegetables, Shekina is expanding into dried

pineapple.

4. Supported by the National Agricultural Exports Board (NAEB) and some other

partners developed a new drying technology that is unique to Rwanda.

5. The business currently employs 105 people, 75% of whom are women.

6. The company has secured export markets and applied for bank loans and

bought technology to dry his “products”.

7. The company now works with several small scale farmers, including hundreds

pineapple producers.

5

Campaigning for Changes: areas of advocacy

1. Follow up in the implementation of

relevant policies;

2. Connecting the dots and effectively

coordinating relevant stakeholders;

3. Private Sector: Enhance the role of the

Chamber of Agriculture at PSF;

4. Accessing foreign markets – but ensuring

enhanced production.

3.3. Preliminary Findings of the

Regional Research Study

This presentation was made by Mr. Paul

(Regional Researcher/ Expert).

He summarized the key issues as follows;

That the cross border trade is an avenue for poverty eradication and economic empowerment.

It impacts on individual food security of changes in trade policy mediated through a host of domestic, social, economic and institutional factors.

That trade reforms affect food security situations within East African Community.

That the regional trade can contribute to food availability, accessibility and stability.

That balancing between national food policy needs and liberalization of agriculture trade is very important.

That trade policy measures related to agriculture also pose challenges like export bans.

Also the institutional and regulatory measures determine winners and losers.

That poor land reforms (tenure system) and low investments affects agriculture production hence food insecurity.

Inadequate infrastructure such as transport, communication, storage and processing facilities affect food security.

Weak/ poor policy and regulatory mechanisms for supporting local community participation and private sector in decision making concerning the agricultural sector also affect food security.

He also pointed out the objectives of the study as follows;

1. That the broad objective of the study is to analyze the impact of trade reforms

on food security in the East African Community region.

6

2. To identify the barriers in trade policies and policies decision making in the

East African Community and the negations, cooperation in the design of EAC

food security.

3. Assess implications, the role and relationships between state and non state

actors in agricultural production, regional trade and broad –based food and

nutritional security.

He concluded by highlighting the preliminary findings as follows;

1. That trade and Agriculture Reforms in Rwanda are embedded in the East

African community aspirations.

2. Rice production is constrained due to competition with an expanding human

settlement, the small scale and the subsistence nature of rice production

create two challenges, insufficiency in volume and so value.

3. Food insecurity and vulnerability –show spatial dimension – pronounced a

among the rural households, with 66.1% of the rural population below the

national poverty line of US$129 per adult per year , compared to 16.1 % in

Kigali and 46.5% in other urban areas .

4. Facilitating the ability of women to engage freely in cross-border agriculture

trade also has the potential to improve food security and reduce poverty

among the vulnerable populations.

5. Despite trade liberalization reforms in East African Community, Agriculture

markets not integrated with international markets, hence Maize and Rice sub-

sectors still vulnerable to global shocks.

4. Discussions, Conclusion and Recommendations

Most of the discussions were about

recommendations that the

participants proposed to have in place

to ensure an appropriate approach to

advocate and campaign for change.

During the discussions, it was pointed

out that most of the issues have been

adequately addressed at the policy

level and now that there is a need to

push for to the implementation phase

and address the raised issues in a

more practical manner.

There is a need to ensure effective coordination and strengthen the network of

relevant stakeholders to support small scale farmers by ensuring the following;

7

- Follow up in the implementation of relevant policies;

- Connecting the dots and effectively coordinating relevant stakeholders;

- Private Sector: Enhance the role of the Chamber of Agriculture at PSF;

- Accessing foreign markets – but ensuring enhanced production.

PACT-EAC (as a project) should be encouraged and supported to keep on

influencing the EAC Secretariat to spearhead the formulation and implementation of

relevant regional policy measures.

There is a need to enhance mainstreaming CC adaptation and mitigation in

agriculture and trade processes should be a continuous process involving all

relevant stakeholders (public sector, private sector and civil society actors).

Furthermore, efforts should be mobilized to enhance effective partnership between

Small Scale Farmers (SSF) engaged in value chains production and the PSF

through food stuff trade.

In his concluding remarks, The country Director of ACORD thanked the organisers,

participants, presenters and facilitators, and recalled some of the main points. At the

end of the fourth NRG meeting, it was clear from the debate that

-there is a need for more meetings to have a common understanding of the issues

pertinent to CC, trade and agriculture, to package messages to farmers

-Good policies are improving but not changing the situation of practices in CCA

-Policy makers and influent people are in Kigali and there is a need to engage SSFA

in monitoring CC, trade and agriculture policies, to join the NRG

-trade is not considered as a CC factor, hence the need to campaign for change

-Natural opportunities such as renewable energy /solar are plenty, hence the need to

push for use

-From specific policies (Land use consolidation, crop intensification, use of industrial

fertilizers, etc) to practice, a need to be specific in the campaign

-inertia in change will depend on the interests involved and expected

-Contracting farming to private sector investors is a good market based partnership

-So many constraints and challenges in regional trade, hence the need to support

the on- going study, contributing to movement of food products across the borders

-members of the NRG should feel more responsible to disseminate the campaign to

their constituencies and report back to the next NRG

8

LIST OF PARTICIPANTS

9

10

The 4th NRG on the Web

La sensibilisation sur le changement climatique exige une

campagne

Written by Gakwaya André

Monday, 29 July 2013 18:03

Vue des participants à 4ème réunion du Groupe National de référence sur l’Agriculture, le

changement climatique, et le commerce.

Kigali: La 4ème réunion du Groupe National de référence sur l’Agriculture, le changement

climatique, et le commerce s’est tenue à Kigali et elle a axé ses travaux sur la nécessité

d’une campagne de changement, selon le Directeur de l’ACORD-Rwanda.

Read more...

La sensibilisation sur le changement climatique exige une campagne

Monday, 29 July 2013 18:03 by Gakwaya André

Vue des participants à 4ème réunion du Groupe National de référence sur l’Agriculture,

le changement climatique, et le commerce.

Kigali: La 4ème réunion du Groupe National de référence sur l’Agriculture, le

changement climatique, et le commerce s’est tenue à Kigali et elle a axé ses travaux sur

la nécessité d’une campagne de changement, selon le Directeur de l’ACORD-Rwanda.

« Que voulons-nous-changer ? Quelle audience faut-il sensibiliser ? », s’est interrogé le

Directeur de l’Agence de Coopération, de Recherche et de Développement (ACORD-

Rwanda), François Munyentwari.

Il est revenu à deux types d’actions qui ont été discutées et recommandées lors de la

réunion de Mars 2013 sur le thème « Agriculture, changement climatique et commerce »

au sein des cinq pays de la Communauté est-africaine.

11

Ces deux actions sont l’intégration du changement climatique dans les activités de

commerce et d’agriculture, ainsi qu’un partenariat basé sur le marché qui devait exister

entre les petits fermiers et le Secteur Privé.

« Ce sont ces deux aspects pour lesquels les participants au présent atelier devraient

faire un plaidoyer », a poursuivi le Directeur de l’ACORD-Rwanda.

Il a ajouté que la campagne devra s’effectuer à travers la compréhension commune des

enjeux : ce qu’il faut changer, et l’audience cible qu’il faut toucher : « Est-ce les

praticiens, les politiciens, les économistes ? A qui s’adresser? », a encore interrogé

Munyentwari.

L’autre aspect concerne les événements au niveau national et à travers lesquels l’on

devra passer le message. Par exemple, est-ce lors de la Journée Mondiale de

l’Alimentation ou du VIH/Sida ? Ou lors des autres réunions comme celle des travaux

communautaires (Umuganda) ?

Le deuxième thème de la campagne concerne la liaison entre les petits fermiers, leurs

productions dans les coopératives, d’une part, et le secteur privé d’autre part, en termes

de marchés.

« Quand on dit chaînes des valeurs, cela signifie beaucoup d’activités depuis la

production, le stockage, la commercialisation, jusqu’à la consommation. L’on devra

s’assurer ici que le changement climatique est respecté », a encore ajouté Munyentwari.

Pour ce qui est de bons résultats auxquels l’on peut s’attendre, il a répondu que « cela

viendra petit à petit. L’on verra la situation de départ du Secteur Privé. Ensuite, l’on

fixera les étapes et les indicateurs dans le temps ».

Pour ce qui est de Julian Mukiibi, représentant de l’ONG International CUTS basée à

Genève et partenaire de l’ACORD, les commerçants, les décideurs politiques agricoles et

les opérateurs privés, devront discuter à propos de ce qui doit être fait au niveau de la

recherche. (FIN)

12

The 4th NRG in the media

MU RWANDA ACORD, partners champion Agriculture- Climate-Trade linkages Publish Date: 3 Août 2013

By admin Participants at the fourth

National Reference Group

(NRG) on Promoting

Agriculture-Climate-Trade

Linkages in East Africa

(PACT- EAC) have called for

action to address existing

gaps. The one day seminar

got underway July 29, 2013

in Kigali Rwanda. The

project is initiated and

supported by CUTS

INTERNATIONAL with

ACORD Rwanda as the host

organization for the

program.

ACORD Country Director François Munyentwari reminded participants that included

different stakeholders in civil society and public sector, of the journey so far covered and

the advocacy stage they were now embarking upon. The NRG dwelt on “mainstreaming

climate change (CC) adaptation and mitigation in agriculture and trade processes :

Campaigning for change ; and

promoting effective

partnerships between small

scale farmers, value chains

and the private sector in

Rwanda.”

NRG group photo

On mainstreaming Climate

Change (CC) adaptation and

mitigation in agriculture and

trade processes : Campaigning

for change, Alphonse Mutabazi

a Rwanda-based consultant

presented the Rwanda

baseline and practices that

drew various reactions from

participants. After observing

effects of CC on Rwanda, he

13

declared that Rwanda is one of the most CC vulnerable countries on earth.

Landslides affecting agriculture such as have happened in Ngororero, destruction of

roads in Nyamagabe and crop destruction by floods in Gisagara demonstrate the nexus

between CC, trade and agriculture. Mutabazi said Rwanda’s high production agriculture is

energy intensive which enhances Green House Gas emissions (GHG).

Part of the agricultural processing such as in tea curing which uses wood energy exposes

the soil through the degradation of forests, apart from emitting GHGs and reducing the

capacity to sink carbon. The problem, he noted, is compounded by the use of obsolete

technology which is rooted in lack of innovation.

Mutabazi remarked that “food security in Rwanda is negatively affected by the lack of

Agriculture Insurance, high transportation cost, and low diversification of export

products, high taxes and trade deficit.” Also, trade in wood and wood products have an

adverse effect on CC, agriculture and food security although trade is often not

considered as a CC agent.

Rwanda though has clear guidelines on Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation

(CCMA) and has elaborated a 5-year CC strategic plan. A more recent addition ;

FONERWA (French acronym for Rwanda National Environment Fund), will mobilize,

manage and disburse finances for CC mitigation and adaptation.

On effective partnership between farmers and value chains and private sector, another

Rwandan Researcher John Bosco Kanyangoga said there is need of awareness of the

various policies in place as elaborated in Vision 2020 and EDPRSII and the National

Trade Policy, with specificity on SMEs Policy. Key actors have to be taken into account

such as MINAGRI ; Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation (RGCC) ; East Africa

Commodities Exchanges (EAX and WFP among others.

There is need to advocate for small holder farmers in diverse areas including marketing

and incentives, finance (soft loans) as well as rural infrastructure, irrigation and

fertilizers.

To bring home this cooperation, the success story of two entreprises, namely Kinazi

Cassava Factory and Shekinah Entreprises were highlighted. Shekinah Entreprises, an

SME, deals with hundreds of Small Scale farmers by buying pineapples and vegetables.

Shekinah dries the pineapples and vegetables for export to European markets and the

USA. Kinazi Cassava Factory which works with farmers on the basis of contract farming

now needs to expand, thanks to large orders from large markets such as Turkey.

Kanyangoga recommends that effective campaign strategy would focus on follow up of

the implementation of relevant policies, enhancing the role of the Chamber of Agriculture

at PSF, accessing foreign markets while multiplying production. The importance of

financing was underscored.

Later the participants heard from a researcher, Paul Otung whose specialty is

institutional economics. In his brief on ‘Trade Reforms and their Impact on Food Security

in the East African Community : The Political Dimension’ he discussed the impact of

policy on food security.

The conference was also attended by Julian Mukiibi of CUTS Geneva, Clementine

Onyango from the Nairobi Office as well as a representative from the Ministry of East

African Community (MINEAC).

Agriculture provides livelihoods to 80% of the EAC population. Yet, about 40% of East

Africans are malnourished, a situation that can get worse due to climate change. PACT-

EAC project strives to meet this challenge through awareness-raising, inclusive research

and training, and multi-stakeholder capacity building.

14