Field Information - Rwanda

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    12.New Coronavirus Pandemic ―Challenges Facing African Agriculture: A case of Rwanda

    April 7, 2020 marks the 26th year since the genocide which is claimed to have killed more than 500,000 people in about 100 days in Rwanda, a landlocked country in Africa. During this time, investment in the tourism industry, ICT and urban infrastructure has been remarkable, the medical field is often praised as a model to follow in Africa, making Rwanda the success story for post-conflict reconstruction. Regarding the new coronavirus (COVID-19), the Rwandan government took advantage of the experience of controlling Ebola infection in the previous year, and once again quickly strengthened the check system and started a lockdown. In Rwanda, small-scale agriculture is still at the core of the economy. Under the excessive population pressure that far exceeds Japan's population density, agricultural land is being fragmented and narrowed, and sustainable cultivation techniques and systems are required. At the same time, the rural areas in Rwanda also face nutritional challenges and it is necessary to introduce a variety of foods to improve the diet of the people.