For the last 4, almost 5 years, Justin and I have been involved with agricultural development in Rwanda. Recently Justin spent over a month in Africa as all of the plans and proposals of the last few years finally started to come together. A lot of you have asked what in the world we're doing there so I thought I would start a blog to explain in a little more detail what it is we're working on, how it all came to be, and what we're hoping will be the result.
Let me start by giving you a brief history of Rwanda and current agricultural climate. When most people think of Rwanda, all that comes to mind is the 1994 genocide, civil unrest and violence, which may have been a fair assessment 15-20 years ago. However, the people of Rwanda and the current government are working tirelessly to reverse this image in the eyes of the world. They recognize that as long as people think of machetes first when they think about Rwanda, the country will never be a major player in the global market. Since the genocide, Rwanda has become a country of hand-outs, largely fueled by guilt for turning a blind eye to a country in tragedy. These donations and contributions served the country well in the immediate aftermath of the genocide, but have since developed a dangerous mindset in which donations are no longer seen as gifts, but are expected and depended upon for survival.
The agricultural climate is nearly as grim. Almost 90% of Rwandans are involved in farming and yet much of the country still falls well below the extreme poverty line. Rwanda imports a large portion of it's food supply and seed from neighboring countries even though, from what we've seen, the soil is fairly fertile and weather couldn't be more favorable for agriculture. In our minds, that equation doesn't make sense.
In the summer of 2006, a group of Rwandan business leaders, government officials, and farmers came to the States to tour the country and get some ideas for how to develop agriculture in their country. They were interested in our Extension system and wanted to tour local farms which is what brought the group to File Family Farms. Justin and my dad gave them a tour of the farm and explained that because of modern farming practices and mechanization, we were able to farm over 2000 acres with only 2 men. We had no idea at the time how that little visit and tour of our farm would impact our lives.
In November of 2008, Justin and I traveled to Rwanda for the first time, just 3 months after Ada, our oldest child was born. Our very first impression of Rwanda was it's beautiful hills. Every one of her 1000 hillsides is covered by tiny plots of ground, carefully worked by hand, mostly by women, with meticulous care. Finally, after years of negotiations with different districts within Rwanda, one local leader has decided to partner with us. The area we are working in is called Mpanga in the Kirehe district, which is about 3 hours southeast of the capital city of Kigali, very near the border of Tanzania. We have been given a 110 acre parcel of ground on which we hope to develop a model farm. The goal of the farm is two-fold:
The immediate need of the Rwandan people is better and more seed. Currently Rwanda imports two thirds of it's seed from other countries which still doesn't meet the needs of the local farmers. A division of the Ministry of Agriculture has commissioned us to multiply seed for distribution. As of today, we have roughly 100 acres planted in corn for the purpose of seed multiplication. In addition, we have on our team the Lead Corn Breeder for Beck's Hybrids, Ben Orebaugh working on developing a white corn seed more suitable for Rwandan soil and growing conditions. He has developed a demonstration plot on this parcel of ground with over 80 different varieties of seed being tested. So far, the results look very promising: emergence is consistent and early vigor is exceeding expectations.
The second goal of the farm is to become a learning center for all of Rwanda, starting with the district of Kirehe. What we've learned about the Rwandan farmers (which is largely true of farmers in general) is that they are a "show me" kind of people. They rarely will accept a new practice until they are able to see favorable results. So, instead of going to their farms and telling them how to change their operations, we hope to bring them to our site and display how we were able to improve our yields through modern techniques and quality seed.
This gives you a very broad view of our history with and hope for the future of Rwandan agriculture. Check back as we add more details on the equipment we're using, the land preparation, and updates on the site as our crop continues to grow.
