24-25 February 2022. 30 members of the Kigali City Region Food System gathered for an important meeting organized by the FAO Country Office in Rwanda to validate the findings of an in-depth assessment on the main shocks, stresses and vulnerabilities of the food system related to climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The food system’s Stakeholder Advisory Group includes a wide range of food system actors, including from the agriculture, insurance, financial, value chain, extension services, and governance sectors. The in-depth assessment addressed the ten most prominent challenges of the food system in the Kigali City Region including issues. These include the lack of affordable irrigation systems for farmers, inadequate information mechanisms on financing and insurance opportunities for agricultural activities, and insufficient coordination of farmers’ cooperatives for adequate access to market facilities and information. 

The findings of the assessment will guide local decision-makers in defining a strategy and an action plan to improve the resilience of the food system, focusing on the main agricultural commodities. The participants of the Stakeholder Advisory Group meeting recommended that government actors work collaboratively with development partners to expand the irrigation subsidy system in drought-prone districts of the Kigali City Region, and enhance investment into facilitating access to rainwater harvesting technologies for farmers. Moreover, stakeholders should proactively encourage access to information about existing financial and insurance schemes for farmers to increase opportunities for agricultural production. Overall, access to information and involvement of youth and women were pointed out as key to enable a more sustainable development of the local food system. Based on the findings of the assessment, the participants ultimately identified key priority actions that will be implemented to strengthen the resilience of the Kigali City Region Food System, as well as food and nutrition security. 

Photo credits: FAO Rwanda Office