Background
The Rwanda Dairy Competitiveness Program II (RDCP II) is a 5-year project implemented in 17 districts in Rwanda with funding from USAID. In Rwanda, approximately 60% of households rear livestock (Bizimana et al. 2012)/taxonomy/term/7881, and agriculture employs 70% of the Rwandan labour force (Ishihara et al. 2016)/taxonomy/term/7892. The objective of RDCP II was to expand production and marketing of quality milk and increase household incomes. RDCP II focused on the entire dairy value chain, aiming to stimulate investment and improve management practices at several links in the chain. CSA practices undertook by RDCP II included: feed quality improvements, breeding improvements, herd size management, feed quantity and herd weight dynamics.
The Relationship with CSA
Farmers benefitted from increased herd size and cow weight and increased efficiencies in the dairy value chain. Farmers’ improvements in productivity also resulted in relative mitigation benefits. Although total annual GHG emissions increased due to increased herd size and cow weight, the project caused a strong decrease in GHG emission intensity of milk production.
Impact and lessons learned
As a result of feed improvements, the use of improved breeds and the expansion of animal health services, milk productivity increased in extensive dairy cattle production systems by 97% and in intensive dairy cattle production systems by 49%. Average milk yield improved, and average number of lactating days increased. Furthermore, post-production losses were reduced by an estimated 25%. The improvement of feed quality and breeding improvements resulted in estimated annual GHG mitigation benefits. However, increases in herd size and animal weight resulted in increased GHG emissions, although emission intensity per litre of milk was reduced as a result of the increase in milk production.
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References
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1
Bizimana C, Usengumukiza F, Kalisa J, Rwirahira J. 2012. Trends in Key Agricultural and Rural Development Indicators in Rwanda. Kigali, Rwanda: Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI).
http://www.minagri.gov.rw/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/RWANDA_SAKSS/Annual_Trends_and_Outlook_Report_2012.pdf This report gives an account of the progress towards achieving the Vision 2020 goals and Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS) targets, the first Millennium Development Goal (MDG1), and the implementation of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) compact in Rwanda. It is significant that these various targets have a common goal of engendering the modernization and transformation of the agriculture sector. -
2
Ishihara Y, Bundervoet T, Sanghi A, Nishiuchi T. 2016. Rwanda - Economic update: Rwanda at work. Rwanda economic update 9(1). Washington, DC: World Bank.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/126991468197359041/pdf/103618-WP-P156677-PUBLIC-Rwanda-Economic-Update-Feb-25-2016.pdf Rwanda’s growth rates during the past few years exceeded the growth rates of developing countries, except for in 2013 when Rwanda’s growth decelerated to 4.7 percent. Among the 181 economies where 2014 gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate data is available, Rwanda’s growth rate of 7.0 percent is more than twice as high as the average of the 181 economies (3.2 percent), and is ranked 20th globally. Going forward, Rwanda’s growth rates are projected to exceed global growth rates in 2015-2017. This edition focuses on jobs in particular the employment dynamics of the past decade.