Agriculture in Rwanda
Senior 4 · Geography
Agriculture in Rwanda
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
The 2022 census also counted the animals kept by private households.
Figure 4. Livestock kept by private households, 2022. Drawn by Ganzaa from NISR, RPHC5 Table 89.
Cows were kept by 27.9% of households, goats by 19.4%, pigs by 14.9%, chickens by 12.0%, rabbits by 5.6% and sheep by 4.7% (NISR, Table 85). The Eastern Province had the most cows (390,826), goats and chickens; the Northern Province the most sheep; the Southern Province the most pigs and rabbits. Why might livestock be kept so differently in different provinces?
Definition
Ranching: rearing large herds of cattle on large, fenced areas of grassland, mainly for beef or milk, with water points and paddocks. Dairying: keeping cows mainly for milk. Zero-grazing: keeping cattle in a shed and bringing cut fodder and water to them instead of letting them graze.
Apiculture: beekeeping for honey and wax. Artificial insemination (AI): introducing semen from improved bulls to raise the quality of a herd.
Worked example 1: how big is a typical herd?
Data (NISR, 2023). 1,424,180 cows; 3,312,743 households, 27.9% of which kept cows.
Interpretation. Most cattle keepers have one or two cows, not herds. With so little land, the typical system is a cow or two kept at home, fed on cut grass, and valued as much for milk and manure as for meat. Large herds are found mainly in the east.
| System | Features | Where in Rwanda |
|---|---|---|
| Ranching | Large herds of local (Ankole) and crossbred cattle on extensive grassland, paddocks, water points and valley dams | The drier east, especially Nyagatare (122,638 cows, the most of any district in 2022), Gatsibo and Kayonza |
| Dairying | Improved breeds (Friesian, Jersey and crosses) for milk; milk sold to collection centres and processors | Throughout the country; around towns and in the cool north-west highlands |
| Zero-grazing | One to a few cows kept in a shed; fodder such as Napier grass, Calliandra and Leucaena cut and carried; manure collected for fields | Densely populated hills of the north, west and south |
| Small livestock | Goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and poultry: cheap to start, fast to breed, little land | Everywhere; goats and poultry most in the east, sheep in the north, pigs and rabbits in the south |
| Beekeeping | Traditional hives of wood and banana leaves, and modern box hives | Near forests and flowering crops; 0.5% of households practise apiculture (2022) |
Sources: NISR (2023) for numbers; forage plants from REMA (2009).
Worked example 2: where are cows most crowded?
Data (NISR, 2023). Nyagatare: 122,638 cows; area . Musanze: 34,384 cows; area .
Interpretation. Surprisingly, Musanze has more cows per km² than Nyagatare, but they are spread among many small farms and fed in sheds (zero-grazing), while Nyagatare's cows are in larger herds grazing open land. The same density can come from very different systems.
The Girinka ("One Cow per Poor Family") programme was launched in 2006. A poor family receives a cow, often an improved dairy breed, and passes the first female calf on to a neighbour (MINAGRI). By 2026 more than 450,000 households had received cows, improving nutrition, income and manure supply; national milk production is about 1.1 million tonnes a year, with an NST2 target of more than 1.3 million tonnes by 2029 (MINAGRI, 2026). In one MINAGRI case study, a Jersey cow given in 2012 in Rwamagana District produced about 21 litres of milk a day, 12 of which were sold.
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Shortage of grazing land in densely populated areas | Zero-grazing; planting fodder on terraces and field edges |
| Dry-season shortage of water and pasture in the east | Valley dams (42 in Nyagatare, 23 in Kayonza, 12 in Gatsibo; RWB); hay and silage; paddocks |
| Low-yielding local breeds | Artificial insemination and crossbreeding with dairy breeds; Girinka |
| Diseases and parasites (such as tick-borne diseases) | Vaccination, dipping and spraying, veterinary services |
| Poor milk marketing and spoilage | Milk collection centres with cooling, cooperatives, processing plants |
| High cost of feed and drugs | Cooperatives, credit, local feed production |
| Overgrazing and erosion | Controlled stocking, rotational grazing, fodder trees, silvopasture |
Warning
Beekeeping and forests. Smoking bees out of wild or traditional hives can start fires; REMA reports that most fires in Nyungwe are started this way (unit 7). Modern box hives and training make beekeeping safer for the forest.
Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB): "How RDDP 2 is transforming dairy farming and forage production in Musanze District". Note the forage crops, cattle housing and milk collection you see.
Practice
Key points
Sources and credits
Sources: Fifth Rwanda Population and Housing Census, 2022: Main Indicators Report, NISR, 2023 (livestock numbers and households, district populations and densities); Rwanda's agriculture sector transformation over the last 32 years, MINAGRI, 8 July 2026 (Girinka households, milk production and target); How a single Jersey cow turned round life for a rural Rwandan community, MINAGRI (Girinka launch, pass-on, case study); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report 2021, REMA (valley dams from RWB data; fires and beekeeping); Rwanda State of Environment and Outlook Report, REMA, 2009 (forage plants).
Figure 4 and the worked examples were drawn and written by Ganzaa.
Photos: Vache de Nyagatare 15, Antoinetorrens, CC BY-SA 3.0; Pepeople grazing cows in Rwanda, RUKUNDO SILADGI, CC BY-SA 4.0; RwandaRuche 01, BluesyPete, CC BY-SA 3.0; via Wikimedia Commons.
Video: "How RDDP 2 is Transforming Dairy Farming & Forage Production in Musanze District", RwandaAgriBoard, embedded from YouTube. The rest of the lesson and the exercises were written by Ganzaa.
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Quick check
Match each livestock system to its description.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
