Introduction

The Government of Rwanda has prioritized agriculture strategies to drive economic growth and ensure food security for all its people. However, drought and soil erosion continue to drive food insecurity in Rwanda and across the region. Conservation Agriculture (CA), a set of agricultural practices that includes building healthy soil, managing water resources, and preventing erosion, can help farmers adapt to these challenges to improve crop productivity, farmer livelihoods, environmental sustainability, and food security. The Government of Rwanda’s latest five year Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA 5), entitled “Building resilient and sustainable agri-food systems” launched in December 2024, aims to integrate CA practices into the national agriculture system to better preserve soils, and increase Rwandan farmers’ resilience to climate change.

To implement the CA portion of the Government of Rwanda’s plan, the Ministry of Agriculture, RICA, the Mennonite Central Committee, and the World Food Programme co-organized the First National Symposium on Conservation Agriculture (CA) on 28 March 2025 at the RICA campus. Over 225 participants from government, academia, NGOs, and farming communities collaborated to align strategies for nationwide CA implementation.

The symposium was successful in unifying stakeholders around Rwanda’s strategic goals for sustainable agriculture under PSTA5 (Strategic Plan for Agricultural Transformation). Key symposium outcomes included:

• Harmonizing CA principles and terminology
• Discussing CAs role in addressing challenges such as soil erosion, drought, and food insecurity
• Devising next steps in order to scale CA adoption to 100,000 hectares by 2029

The meeting allowed the Government of Rwanda to showcase their exemplary leadership on agriculture and the proactive steps they are taking towards integrating CA into their national agriculture system, ensuring that CA is prioritized in farmer trainings and seeing that the right policies are in place for its adoption. For instance, in addition to adding a focus on CA in the PSTA 5, from 2023-2025, the Rwanda Agriculture Board reports it has trained 25,500+ extension workers and farmers and established 3,500+ CA demo plots.

This meeting allowed all partners to agree on next steps to advance the government’s CA adoption goals set forth in the PSTA 5. These include promoting CA best practices/principles as defined at the symposium, further capacity building efforts and policy integration, as well as the establishment of a National CA Coordination Platform, among many other actions.

The symposium concluded by reinforcing Rwanda’s roadmap for CA adoption, emphasizing collaboration, localized solutions, and evidence-based scaling. The proceedings will serve as a guide for stakeholders in achieving PSTA5 targets and fostering resilient agricultural systems.

The proceedings from the symposium are found below in more detail.

Presentations and Discussions

Keynote Address and Vision

The Honorable Minister of MINAGRI provided the Keynote Remarks that highlighted Rwanda’s commitment to CA as a pillar for achieving PSTA5 targets, which include a 50% increase in agricultural productivity growth and climate resilience.

RICA, MCC and WFP provided the following remarks

Conservation Agriculture offers a solution to address the challenges of droughts and soil erosion, which are the primary drivers of food insecurity in Rwanda and across the region.

• RICA stressed CA’s role in soil health, food security, and integrated pest management. RICA also identified and educated on CA’s key principles which include minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining soil cover, and crop diversification and other best practices such as avoiding the importation of mulch or crop residues, planting one seed per hole, proper spacing and crop rotation.
• MCC noted that stakeholders should devise strategies to equip farmers with the knowledge and resources needed for Conservation Agriculture (CA) to successfully address issues of food security and income generation.
• WFP remarked that Large-scale adoption of (CA) will require all stakeholders to collaborate: Government leadership, scientific institutions, researchers, the private sector, and farmers will need to work together to ensure that CA best practices are adopted by farmers; particularly the core CA principles of minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining soil cover, and crop diversification/crop rotation.
• In addition to the core CA principles, farmers should consider the economic application of nutrients, efficient water use including irrigation where possible, integrated cropping and livestock systems, and the management of environmental impacts from crops and livestock to promote biodiversity.
• Farmers need to learn the enablers of CA practices, which include controlling soil erosion, using high-yielding and adapted crop varieties, among others.
• Farmers need to understand that planting density determines the quantity of seed required, quality of seed, and ultimately the yield harvested. It is profitable to plant one seed per hole when using improved seeds.

Vision & Shared Understanding of Conservation Agriculture

What Does the Evidence Say?

Presentation by Dr. Ndambe Nzaramba, DVC of Extension and Applied Research, RICA noted the below impacts of adopting CA in Rwanda:

• Soil Health: Organic matter increased from 1.2% (2017) to 2.5% (2023); pH levels improved from 5 to 6.8.
• Economic Gains: Reduced labor (30 man-hours/hectare saved), fuel costs, and weed pressure.
• Environmental Impact: Mitigated soil erosion (25 tons/hectare/year saved) and enhanced drought resilience.

Panel Discussion on Rwanda shared vision and Perspective of CA

MINAGRI, WFP, RICA, MCC, B2R

• Unified Principles: Core CA principles (minimal soil disturbance, soil cover, crop rotation) are consistent, but implementation strategies vary.
• Farmer Engagement: Need for localized terminology, the inclusion of youth and women, and leveraging champion farmers.
• Challenges: Residue management, weed control, and shifting from traditional farming mindsets remain key obstacles.

Sharing Experiences and Best Practices

Experiences from Government and Practitioners

• Rwanda Agriculture Board’s Report: Trained 25,500+ extension workers and farmers from 2023–2025 and established 3,500+ CA demo plots.
• Success Stories: The NASHO Irrigation Cooperative and RICA model farms showcased consistent yield stability and significant cost savings.

Perspectives from the African Continent

• Dr. Kofi Boa (Center for No-Till Agriculture, Ghana): Highlighted the slow adoption of CA in Africa, attributing it to short-term donor projects and lack of practical expertise. Dr. Boa emphasized the importance of avoiding mulch importation and encouraged the use of crop residues sourced directly from the same farm.
• Lessons for Rwanda: to scale its adoption, CA needs to be integrated into national systems, prioritized in farmer training, and have aligned policies to support its adoption.

List of Organizations Who Attended