Nyagatare Farmers Commit to Joining Agriculture Insurance Scheme

Farmers and livestock keepers in Nyagatare District have pledged to join the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS), locally known as “Tekana Urishingiwe Muhinzi-Mworozi”, after learning about its benefits during a recent awareness campaign conducted by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and its projects.

The week-long campaign, held across several districts in the Eastern Province, aimed to encourage more farmers and livestock keepers to enroll in Tekana as a way of protecting themselves from losses caused by natural disasters and other farming-related risks.

Gilbert Niyonshuti, Vice President of CODERVAM Cooperative, said they decided to enroll in Tekana after understanding its importance in reducing financial risks.

“We mainly grow rice, but we also have other crops on upland fields. We have decided to insure them under Tekana to avoid losses from unpredictable weather conditions,” he said.

Léandre Ndayisenga, President of the COPEDECOM Cooperative in Mukama Sector, said that before joining Tekana, many farmers used to suffer heavy losses whenever their crops failed. However, with the insurance scheme in place, they now receive compensation when disasters strike.

“Sometimes heavy rains hit Gicumbi District, causing rivers to overflow and destroy our crops. When such incidents happen, insurance agents come to assess the damage, and within a few days, we receive compensation,” Ndayisenga explained.

He added that cooperative leaders have been tasked with encouraging more smallholder farmers, especially those who grow crops on hillsides, to join the scheme.

Nyagatare District Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Development, Gonzague Matsiko, said the district leadership continues to emphasize the importance of Tekana in meetings with residents.

“We are still behind compared to when the Tekana program started, but we are determined to meet the targets set in our annual performance contracts,” Matsiko noted.

He acknowledged that some farmers still rely on traditional farming methods and are reluctant to join the insurance scheme, but emphasized that the district will continue to raise awareness, reminding them that Tekana is a government-backed solution to protect farmers and livestock keepers from losses.

According to the district’s latest statistics for Season A 2026, Nyagatare District has made notable progress in agricultural insurance coverage under the Tekana scheme. For crops, a total of 1,560 hectares of maize have been insured out of 2,400 hectares planted, while 2,106.5 hectares of rice are insured, exceeding the 2,096 hectares that had been planned. In addition, 38.3 hectares of soybeans and 4.5 hectares of fresh beans have been insured, while 50 hectares of beans and another 50 hectares of chili are planned for insurance coverage.

When it comes to livestock, 1,025 cattle have been insured out of 5,200, alongside 200 poultry out of 1,110, and 42 pigs out of 155. These figures show the district’s growing commitment to protecting both crops and livestock through agricultural insurance.

The National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) was launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) and is implemented by RAB through its Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), in collaboration with private insurance companies.

To make the program affordable for smallholder farmers, the government covers 40 percent of the insurance premium. Since its inception, the scheme has insured around 189,734 farmers and livestock keepers, representing about six percent of all farmers in Rwanda.

So far, the government has invested Rwf 5.95 billion in subsidies, while Rwf 8.19 billion has been paid out in compensation, including Rwf 3.57 billion for livestock and Rwf 4.62 billion for crops.

The scheme currently covers major crops such as rice, maize, potatoes, beans, chili, soybeans, French beans, and cassava, as well as livestock including cattle, pigs, poultry, and fish.