In 2022, FAO assessed policies and the enabling environment related to innovation in the small livestock subsector in Rwanda, with a focus on pig and poultry value chains and animal feeds. The consultancy study covered eight districts of Rwanda and included 39 key informant interviews and five focus group discussions. A national policy dialogue event in November 2022 in Kigali validated the findings. The consultative process identified and ranked the main problems and policy issues in pig, poultry and animal feeds value chains in the country:

· insufficient access to affordable, suitable and nutritious animal feeds;

 · low market price for animal products compared to input costs;

 · lack of markets due to cultural perceptions about consumption of chicken, eggs and grilled pork;

 · financial constraints to smallholder farmer participation in pigs and poultry value chains;

 · limited farmer access to improved animal breeds;

· limited animal health services related to animal diseases, vaccines and drugs;

· poor standards of animal sheds in smallholder farms;

· limited or poor market infrastructure and processing facilities for animal products;

· limited farmer knowledge and skills for rearing pigs and poultry;

 · poor links between small livestock farmers, feed producers and animal processing facilities; and

 · lack of transport and logistics for live animals and animal products.

 Problems can be turned into opportunities: This report identifies policy interventions that the Government of Rwanda and other stakeholders jointly should undertake to address limited access to animal feeds and to facilitate innovation in pig and poultry value chains in Rwanda.

The policy dialogue was held under the project “Developing capacities in agricultural innovation systems: scaling up the Tropical Agriculture Platform Framework (TAP-AIS)”, funded by the European Union.