Rwanda's first Institute for Conservation Agriculture opens in 2019

The first ever Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture to prepare the country’s next generation of agriculture leaders and those of the whole East African region opens in July 2019, an official statement revealed in Kigali on Friday.The statement issued by the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture said the new institute to award Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Agriculture in a three-year accredited program is currently recruiting qualified students to enroll for classes beginning in July 2019.

It said that selected students will pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Agriculture that is focused on soil conservation, water conservation, One Health, entrepreneurship, leadership, and innovative thinking.

Agriculture is the mainstay of Rwanda’s economy, contributing around a third of economic output and employing the majority of the population which is currently estimated at 11 million.

According to the forth Integrated Household Living Conditions Survey (EICV4) published by the country’s Bureau of Statistics, the number of Rwandans living in poverty will be down to just 15 percent by 2024.

In 2015, the figure was at 39.1 percent, according to official statistics.

This article was crossposted from : https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/rwandas-first-institute-for-conservation-agriculture-opens-in-2019/