Publication: Land consolidation for food security in Rwanda A case study of Bushoki sector(2007-2012), Rulindo District, Rwanda
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2013
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Mount Kenya University
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Abstract
This study seeks to determine whether land consolidation has had a significant positive impact on the food security of farmers in Bushoki Sector between since year 2007 until 2012. It specifically needs to assess the level of improvement in food availability, on-farm income and food quality as perceived by farmers’ households. The study is important as it identifies areas of successes and weaknesses in implementation which policy makers could use in adjusting the land consolidation process, and is also useful to practitioners and other researchers, and is a contribution to the body of literature on the Rwandan food security efforts. The study adopted a mixed approach that used primary data collected through surveying a random sample of households in all administrative Cells, focus group discussions with farmers’ cooperatives and interview with local leaders. It adopted both descriptive and correlational designs whose sample was selected through multistage cluster steps. Univariate analysis was applied with descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis for variables’ relationships with related tests of significance, using Microsoft Access for data entry and the Statistical Package for Social Scientists for analysis. The research has found that land consolidation has contributed to slight improvement of the food security of farmers’ households in general, but at diminishing rates when moving across food security components from food availability, food quality and on-farm income. The research revealed that the perception of changes in crop yields by farmers’ households is not dependent upon the sizes of their farmlands, while perception of improvement in food availability is correlated with the farmland size variable. It has also identified factors perceived by farmers as positive or negative that contributed to observed changes in households’ food security components and has discussed their origins, their impacts and their magnitude, with some major constraints that limited levels of improvement and are linked to the policy process itself. The study recommended to the government to support further chemical fertilisers and lay down mechanisms to address the issue of inexistence of a facility to add value to crop produces, to producers to invest in organic manure and cooperative to improve on their business skills and to development partners to support extension services, control of soil acidity and improve soil fertility. The study suggested that further researches are undertaken on intensification in intercropping system and on identifying conditions for optimum farm productivity (crop yields) in the present poor ecological pattern, especially soils.
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food conservation