Policy for Agriculture and Horticulture in Rwanda: A Different Political Economy?

Abstract

In Africa as in Asia, will successful agricultural transformation happen first in countries whose rulers are driven by concerns to avert fundamental rural‐based political threats? This article explores this question with reference to Rwanda, where the political incentives are found to be different from those in comparable African countries. Whilst this did not immediately lead to the adoption of an appropriate agricultural strategy, following a major shock and some serious rethinking, policy has now turned a corner and the results are promising. This experience has revealed that the political economy of agricultural policy in Rwanda is distinguished by a capacity for learning from errors as well as a seriousness about implementation that are not widely observed elsewhere in the region.