The development of
the agricultural sector is facing a few obstacles
related to the low productivity of the sector, soils
and environment degradation. Today, your institute
is committed to improving the situation by providing
farmers with skilled experts. In this regards what
main challenges of the ISAE?
Our Institute was created in 1989. Our mission is
to train engineers, technicians with A1 level and
send them to work on the field and assist farmers.
This is very specific to our institution, our engineers
are meant to work with the population.
As you mentionned, Rwanda is facing problems in
terms of low soils fertility, erosion and lack of
know-how. So, we train our students so that they
can themselves train farmers on new technics and
ways to fight erosion, use quality seeds, fight
plant illnesses and how to use efficiently all types
of fertilizers.
Animal Husbandry is also part of our training program.
We try to improve technic of breeding animals. That
is the reason we have six departments on the campus:
Regarding agriculture, we have four: Plant protection,
rural engineering, Agro-forestry, Agro-economy.
As for animal husbandry, we have two departments:
Zootechnics and animal health.
Can you tell us more about the curriculum, the
number of students, and the qualification of your
teachers?
Our programs are based on a three-year course. The
first year is focused on basic knowledge in Physics,
chemistry, biology, anatomy. Then, our students
specialize during the second and third years. Our
courses are 50% theoretical and 50% practical. So,
our students spend 50% of their time on the field.
Our programs have been elaborated in conjunction
with other institutes such as the National University
of Butare, ISAR, we even invite experts from neighboring
countries to join us and study together the possibilities
for new programs.
We have today 800 students within our six departments.
We have 45 teachers: 30 are permanent and the 15
others are visitors coming from other national institutes
and universities. Some of our teachers also go and
teach in other institutes from time to time, we
exchange our teachers. However, we still have a
lot of teachers not having their Ph.D and some of
them are completing their qualifications abroad.
In the meantime, we work with expatriates, especially
from India, Nigeria, Burundi.
Since the institute was created, 200 students have
graduated and are now working on the field. Many
of them work NGOs, at the Ministry of Agriculture
or have become teachers.
What is the feedback that you receive from your
former students?
Unfortunately, they face a lot of problems, especially
the lack of equipment. For this reason, some of
the advises they give to the farmers cannot be implemented. |
Where do your resources
mainly come from?
Most of our financial resources come from the government.
In terms of know-how and technology transfers, we
collaborate with some German institutes within the
framework of our "jumelage" with the Rhineland
palatinate. We have initiated contacts with a university
in Canada and we hope to develop more contacts with
Belgium and French institutes.
The Rwandan rural population is growing faster
that the job opportunities in those rural areas.
Does the ISAE play a role in helping farmers diversify
their activities into new sectors of the economy
such as agro-processing?
90% of the population depends on agro-related activities.
And the agricultural sector is becoming less productive
due to lower soil fertility and degradation of the
environment. So, the government is trying to make
part of the population shift to new activities,
some of them could still be related to the agricultural
sector but on the downstream. So, we teach our students
how to become an entrepreneur and manage their own
business. Instead of looking for a job, they can
create jobs in villages and show the farmers how
to work in modern way. This is the reason we created
the department for Agro-economy. Unfortunately,
the young graduates often face financial difficulties
for their projects and they do not have an easy
access to bank loans. However, some institutions
are starting to get involved, especially the "Union
des Banques Populaires" that give small loans
(around 2,000$) to young graduates. With this money,
they can start cultivating tomatoes, pinapples or
breed chicken or goats.
Animal husbandry is a sector that still needs
to be boosted. In your opinion, what are the issues
to be tackled in priority?
The Ministry of Agriculture set up a priority, the
breeding of cows for milk production. Our national
milk production is too low for the needs of the
country. But, all the related services such as transport,
transformation, distribution have to be modernized.
Our government has started importing cows endowed
with great genetical value from Germany, South Africa.
But we have to provide our farmers with the know-how
and the equipment to make those cows productive.
On a more personal level, can tell us about the
reasons that motivated your working for the ISAE?
I am a veterinary. After my studies, I specialised
in bovine reproduction in France and in Japan. I
learnt many techniques of artificial insemination
and cells transplant. I have been in that field
for 20 years. And it is only four years ago that
I started teaching at the ISAE.
NB : Winne shall not be responsible for unedited
transcriptions |
RWANDA
