Economic Activities
Senior 1 · Geography
Economic Activities
Lesson 2 of 4
24 min
The table below splits Rwanda's agriculture, forestry and fishing in 2025 into its parts. Before reading on, predict which part is larger: forestry or export crops such as tea and coffee. Then check.
| Part of the primary sector (2025) | Value added (Frw billion) | Share of the sector |
|---|---|---|
| Food crops | 2,514 | 52.9% |
| Forestry | 843 | 17.8% |
| Livestock and livestock products | 757 | 15.9% |
| Export crops (mainly tea and coffee) | 567 | 11.9% |
| Fishing | 67 | 1.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 4,748 | 100% |
Source: NISR, GDP National Accounts 2025, Table 1 (current prices); shares calculated by Ganzaa. Mining is counted separately, under industry: Frw 438 billion.
Food crops produce more than half the value, because most rural families grow beans, bananas, maize, cassava and potatoes, first to eat and then to sell. Forestry is larger than tea and coffee together. Primary activities depend on nature, so each one is found where the land, climate, rocks or water suit it.
Definition
Subsistence and commercial farming: subsistence farming grows food mainly for the farmer's own family; commercial farming grows crops or keeps animals mainly for sale. Example: a family plot of beans and bananas (subsistence); a tea estate selling to a factory (commercial).
Definition
Cash crop (export crop): a crop grown mainly to be sold, often abroad, rather than eaten by the farmer. Example: tea and coffee, Rwanda's leading export crops.
| Tea | Coffee | |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | Early 20th century, by German missionaries | Early 1900s, by the Germans |
| Where grown | Cool, wet highlands; main districts Rutsiro, Nyamasheke and Nyabihu (Western Province) | Hills at high altitude across the country, especially on fertile volcanic soils |
| Why there | High altitude, volcanic soils and a temperate climate | High altitude, good rainfall and fertile soils; 97% is arabica, mainly Bourbon |
| Who grows it | Large estates and smallholders supplying tea factories | Mostly smallholders, selling cherries to washing stations |
| Exports | About US$90 million in 2020–21 (NAEB); sold to the USA, UK, Germany, Pakistan, Japan and others | US$452 million in total between 2017 and 2023; exported mostly as raw green beans |
Worked example 1: forestry against export crops
Use the table. How many times larger was forestry than export crops in 2025, and what share of the primary sector was forestry?
Answer. Forestry was about one and a half times as large as tea and coffee together, and nearly a fifth of the whole sector. The reason is energy: the 2022 census found that 76% of Rwandan households (93% in rural areas) cook mainly with firewood, and half of urban households use charcoal. Eucalyptus woodlots also supply poles and timber for building.
Worked example 2: a jump in export crops
Export crops were worth Frw 351 billion in 2024 and Frw 567 billion in 2025 (current prices). Find the percentage increase.
Answer. An increase of about 62%. NISR explains that coffee production rose by 60% in 2025 and tea by 8%. (At current prices, part of any increase can also come from higher world prices.)
Mining. Rwanda's old rocks hold three main ores (Unit 6): cassiterite (tin), coltan (tantalum) and wolframite (tungsten). Mineral exports earned about US$733 million in 2020, and in 2019 Rwanda was the world's seventh-largest producer of tungsten. Mining and quarrying (including sand, stone and clay for building) added Frw 438 billion to GDP in 2025, and grew by 17% that year.
Fishing. The main fishery is on Lake Kivu. Its most important catch, the small sardine called isambaza, was brought from Lake Tanganyika in 1959. Crews go out at night in boats rigged with long poles, using lights to attract the fish. Smaller fisheries work on other lakes and in fish ponds. Fishing is only about 1.4% of the primary sector, but it provides protein and jobs along the lake shores.
Important
Case study: one landscape, four primary activities
Travel along the western highlands between Lake Kivu and Nyungwe and you see all four primary activities within a few kilometres. Tea estates cover the cool, wet slopes; eucalyptus woodlots stand on steep ground and hilltops; small mines work the old rocks; and fishing boats set out from Karongi and Rusizi each evening. Each follows a natural resource: climate and soil, trees, ores, fish. The same slopes also show the risks: steep, cleared land erodes, and mud from mines and fields washes into rivers such as the Sebeya (Units 10 and 11).
Warning
Don't confuse value with jobs. Fishing adds only 1.4% of the primary sector's value, but that does not make it unimportant: it feeds and employs many lake-shore families. And food crops are the largest part of the sector, even though tea and coffee earn more foreign money.
Rwanda Tea From Farm to Cup, by SPIU-IFAD Rwanda (4 min). Note each step and whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary.
Land is scarce in Rwanda. Should a family with one hectare grow tea to sell, or food crops to eat? Consider income, food security, price changes and how far the family lives from a tea factory.
Tip
Exam technique: for every primary activity give the resource, the location and the reason: "Tea (resource: cool, wet climate and fertile soils) is grown in Nyabihu, Rutsiro and Nyamasheke (location) because the western highlands are high and rainy (reason)."
Practice
Remember
Sources and credits
The lesson text, tables, worked examples and practice are written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
