Rwanda launches soil information service program to provide soil composition and fertility recommendations
The Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources through the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resource Development Board (RAB), in collaboration with the IITA in Rwanda, launched the Rwanda Soil Information Service (RwaSIS) program. The launch event took place in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, from 13 to 14 February.
The program, which has a duration of two and half years, aims to develop fertilizer and lime recommendations for Rwandan crops, provide information on different types and occurrence of erosion, and design a functional and interactive National Soil Information Service to monitor changes in soil properties.
“Mainly, as a Government of Rwanda, through the RwaSIS project, we aim to manage fertilizer and lime use on our different soils. Research has demonstrated that the fertilizer and lime that we distribute currently to farmers around the country, do not give
yields at desired levels, and yield gaps are still huge. In brief, the RwaSIS program will study what is lacking in our soil to give the desired harvest,” said RAB Deputy Director-General, Dr Charles Murekezi.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, RwaSIS will support the Government of Rwanda in making evidence-based decisions, where investments in soils can have the highest returns.
RwaSIS will help to lay foundations for a modern soil information service that will rationalize the costs of obtaining high-quality soil data while building accessible geospatial data systems based on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interpretable, Reusable) principles that will leverage legacy and new investments in soil analytics. Also, it will provide timely information on soil fertility, acidity, and erosion.
The information generated by the project will assist key stakeholders, including ministries, fertilizer companies, and the private sector in Rwanda, in providing evidence to support their decision-making processes.
In his remarks, officially launching the RwaSIS program, Jean Claude Musabyimana, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said that RwaSIS will assist in maximizing productivity in agriculture, and foster investments in local fertilizer manufacturing.
“This project perfectly aligns with National Strategy for Transformation, which aims to maintain the agriculture sector at a stable average growth rate of at least 5.7% per year from 2017 to 2024, requiring considerable gains in land and agricultural efficiency,” Musabyimana said.
As one of the key partners in this program, IITA will be coordinating the external partnerships of the RwaSIS program to identify and continuously follow up on their roles during the implementation of the project.
Participants at the launch event in Kigali.
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