Agriculture is extremely important to the Rwandan economy. Over 90 percent of households practice some form of crop cultivation while the sector serves as the principal source of employment for nearly 80 percent of the labor force and accounts for about a third of GDP. However, these same figures also demonstrate that agricultural productivity is extremely low. Indeed, almost 90 percent of the labor force that makes its living from agriculture is classified as subsistence farmers, and over 60 percent falls below the poverty line.

The Government of Rwanda (GOR) has demonstrated substantial commitment to addressing these challenges and took numerous actions consistent with the Feed the Future food security initiative. Rwanda was the first country to sign a Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) compact, committing itself to taking actions to generate sustained agricultural growth of six percent per year, including increasing the share of the state budget allocated to agriculture to 10 percent per year.

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