Agrarian Change and Gender in Post Genocide Rwanda: Analysing the Effects of Crops Intensification Program on Women Smallholder Farmers

Abstract

The World Development Report of 2008 highlighted agricultural intensification as a strategy to boost economic growth and reduce poverty, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Following this assumption, Rwanda is one of the African countries which adopted and implemented an agrarian change in the form of Crops Intensification Programme (CIP). CIP aims to transform small-scale subsistence farming into large-scale and market-oriented agriculture, to enhance agricultural growth and improve the well-being of those involved and depend upon farming activities, whose majority are women. Drawing from the experience of women farmers involved in CIP in Huye and Gisagara Districts in southern Rwanda, this study aimed to analyse the effects of Rwanda’s agrarian change on the daily life of women smallholder farmers. It hence used qualitative research tools to gather data from different actors of CIP such as women members of CIP cooperatives, government officials in charge of agriculture and cooperatives’ leaders. Findings revealed an increase in agricultural productivity by a unit of land as a result of the intensified farming system under CIP. Such intensification, however, induces the cost of production in terms of inputs and labour, which makes it hard for women smallholder farmers to cope with such an agrarian change. Furthermore, the government’s control over the CIP process and the intra-household labour relation increase the burden of poor women as the main actors in the agriculture sector. The study argues that the intersection between gender, class and government interventionism reinforces the proletarianisation of poor women’s labour under CIP. Henceforth, an empowering strategy by the government can enhance women’s capabilities as well as their opportunities to benefit as active agents of CIP.