Rwandan farmers under PRICE Project decry low benefits

Rwandan farmers under the Project for Rural Income through Exports (PRICE) say they are yet to see benefits of operating under this initiative.

Members of parliament say that individuals behind the failure of this projects should be held accountable.

The Project for Rural Income through Exports (PRICE) under the National Agriculture Export Development Board (NAEB) whose goal was to promote sustainable increased returns to farmers from key export-driven agricultural value chains for selected products such as coffee, tea and silk cocoons among others did not live up to expectations.

According to  Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, During the recent countrywide consultations with beneficiaries of PRICE , it was established that PRICE met some vital challenges with the intended farmers.

The auditor general's report findings on PRICE project indicate that several initiatives fell short of the mark of the 9000 cooperative working under Price, only 7200 are operational. Out of 445 hectares that were reserved for tea growing in  Nyaruguru  District, only 45 hectares were utilised representing 10 per cent utilisation.

About 60 percent of the 2000 hecatre of land reserved for avocado, Lemon and mango planting was utilised.

George William Kayonga, the CEO of NAEB Acknowledge that the project encountered challenges but they are currently working on possible solution .

There would be mobilisation for farmers to grow tea but implementation  never goes to plan as expected. In some instances, Heads of Cooperatives did not deliver as expected. in some places where seeds didn't grow was as a result of unforeseen dry season. Through this we have picked some lessons and tried to address  some of the challenges before the project timelines comes to an end.

The Chairperson of PAC, Jean Chrisostome NGABITSINZE says that the problem with this project originates from poor coordination.

About 40% of the land upon which the tea was supposed to be grown is empty. it doesn't generate anything to the owners.  The biggest problem is poor coordination between responsible organs and stakeholders. The other issues is with the project itself. The people who work with the project do not have con consolidated figures.

Currently about 26 billion RWF has been invested in PRICE Project and 70 percent of the implementation progress of project activities has been implemented.

The project was initiated in 2011 and it is supposed to end  in 2019. However, it has been extended for 18 months.

The project partially supported by International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) is expected to cost 56 million USD, provided by