Kigali, June 30, 2009: Rwanda’s Think Tank; the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research (IPAR) has held a half-day validation workshop for the Agriculture Sector Situation Analysis at Hotel Top Tower, Kacyiru.

The workshop drew over 30 participants including leaders of government agricultural institutions, leaders of cooperatives and private sector. The aim of the workshop was to validate and also gather views from stakeholders about the just concluded Agriculture sector situation analysis by the IPAR Research Fellow Mr. John Rwirahira before it is finally published. In her opening remarks, the IPAR Executive Director Mrs. Antonia Mutoro said: “We strongly believe in such consultative process because we want the different researches to reflect the views and concerns of our stakeholders….and Rwandans in general. We needed to be objective and credible in the researches that we conduct. It is also imperative to provide rationale and justification for the research topics”.

At the workshop, a number of research topics were raised by participants, including among others; impact of agric prices volatility to the sector, Irrigation, how agriculture policies impact on the sector,   how opening boarders to the EAC impact on Rwanda’s agric sector. Among other dignitaries attending the workshop was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture. He remarked: “The establishment of this institute was indeed long over due. Experience shows that most of our policies are passed without thorough scrutiny. IPAR comes to address this gap.  IPAR shall not only help government to come up with evidence based policies but also assessing their impact over time.

Looking at reactions from stakeholders attending this workshop, it is evident that IPAR has a big task ahead. It is my wish therefore that a concrete model which caters for all initiatives to do with; research, policy formulation and implementation and analyses is formed”. Similar sector situation analyses in the ICT and Private Sector are ongoing.