Productivity and competitiveness of Rwandan agriculture: a case study of the maize sector

This study investigated the level of productivity and competitiveness of Rwandanagriculture by focusing on the case study of the maize sector. The data werecollected through close monitoring of maize production activities on a sample of 50producers from five maize producers’ cooperatives selected in the districts ofHuye, Rusizi, Gasabo, Burera and Bugesera (Rwanda) during two agriculturalseasons of 2013/2014 and 2014/2015. They were supplemented by directobservation, interviews with targeted resource persons and secondary data onmaize imports and exports retrieved from FAOSTAT website. The analysis wasconducted using the comparative analysis, the farm-level economic performanceindicators, the Net Export Index (NEI) and the Grubel-Lloyd (GL) measure. Theresults revealed that the yield was very low compared to theoretical expected yieldsfor about 80% of producers. The analysis showed that the rational use of improvedseeds, chemical and organic fertilizers improved the yield. The analysis of the NEIand the GL measures for maize flour and maize grain revealed that Rwanda was anet importer. For these staple foods, the results revealed that if Rwanda managed,through policy and institutional actions, to remove or alleviate the bottlenecks thatprevent farmers from producing enough for export, it could have had a competitiveadvantage on regional markets.