A section of farmers are considering venturing into other income-generating activities after suffering losses amounting to millions of francs last year.

Farmers who spoke to Rwanda Today said crop production has become expensive with low returns due to prolonged drought, pests and low yields.

Some farmers in districts such as Bugesera, Kayonza, Kirehe and parts of Ngoma have decided to sit out of season B, saying from experience of last year's troubles and losses they don’t expect much to change this year.

“I lost a lot of money and time last year, I am still paying debts from last season yet I didn’t get anything out of the crops. I will not plant anything this season,” said Valens Nkurikiyumukiza, a farmer in Ngoma district.

Francois Niyibizi, a farmer in Lake Mirayi in Gashora sector in Bugesera, whose livelihood has for years depended on selling farm produce, told Rwanda Today that he has made up his mind to sell the few assets he has so he can exit farming and start trading in produce.

“Farmers from up to seven sectors in Bugesera including the one I come from didn’t harvest anything, the crops were all scorched during the prolonged dry season, the government has been giving food hand-outs to many of them, it was so bad,”

Normally some of these farmers, especially those involved in small-scale commercial agriculture have depended on irrigation.

Many use small-scale irrigation equipment like water pumps to irrigate during the dry season, but this time many didn’t get access to these pumps due to the Covid-19 induced disruptions of global supply chains.

Cargo glitches, shipping delays as well as significant increase in the cost of irrigation pumps by Chinese manufacturers meant that the dealers would take months to replenish stocks even at a subsidised prices.

The cost of irrigation equipment has doubled compared to 2019 even as the cost of shipping goes up.

For instance, a three-inch Koshin pump with a 75 discharge head that is used to irrigate one hectare of land used to cost Rwf 44,591, now the minimum cost is between Rwf 86,209 to Rwf89,182 in China

Franklin Begumisa, a dealer contracted by the government to offer subsidised irrigation equipment to farmers, said the situation is beyond suppliers' control and they are also making losses.

He said they used to find the equipment already assembled and waiting for shipping, but now they have to make orders, pay for production costs and wait for not less than two months for it to be shipped.

“The business has changed so much for the worst; we have to pay for production costs then make an upfront payment for the equipment. Manufacturers have made things difficult even as we face serious delays.

“Farmers end up paying heavily for inconveniences yet we can’t deliver on time; these delays have had a negative impact on crop production. We understand farmers' frustration but we can't do much about the situation,” said Begumisa.

He noted that with all the significant rise in the cost of equipment and shipping challenges, they are still selling at 2018 prices because they are fixed in the contract because the government has been reluctant to make adjustments.

According to an Agriculture Survey report done by National Institute of Statistics released in December 2021, 37.1 percent of farmers used improved seeds in season A against 17.2 percent in season B and 23.8 percent in season C last year.

In season A, 39.3 percent of improved seeds came from NGO/companies, 37.6 percent from agro-dealers, 8.3 percent from government, 5.2 percent purchased from market, 4.3 percent from cooperatives, and 4.3 percent from seeds multipliers.