The European Union Tuesday announced 200-million-Euro support to Rwanda's agricultural sector of the 460 million Euros earmarked for Rwanda's development program.

This was announced by Ambassador Michael Ryan, the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Rwanda, at the closing of the two-day second Comprehensive Agricultural African Development Program High-Level Stakeholders Meeting in Kigali.

The funds will be invested until 2020 in areas, including feeder roads, nutrition, and centralized and decentralized agriculture.

"We like what is happening in agriculture sector, we like what the (agriculture) ministry is doing," Ryan said.

The envoy explained that they had been working closely with the Rwandan government and through the Ministry of Finance they had reached a consensus to channel a section of the funds through budget sector support.

We work very closely with the Ministry of Finance, he said, and as a result of that, a decision has been taken to transform around 80 per cent of our agricultural support into the form of budget sector support straight to the treasury with predefined targets and objectives.

Ryan said the EU was impressed with Rwanda's model for including the private sector in a discussion on agricultural sector growth.

Rwanda's finance minister Claver Gatete said the agricultural sector was at the center of economic transformation, contributing to poverty reduction and economic growth.

The sector's contribution to poverty reduction was around 50 per cent in the previous economic development strategy, according to Gatete.

The agricultural sector employs about 80 per cent of Rwanda's population. Endi

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