Rwanda is a country where national authorities are in the cockpit and determine where the country should go under its Vision. This is what has led to the progress of agriculture in the country over the last five years, says Attaher Maiga, FAO Representative. After five years of presence in Rwanda, this senior executive delivers here a brief report of end of mission, at the microphone of the journalist André Gakwaya of Rwanda News Agency (RNA), partner of Financial Afrik in the region of the Great Lakes.
Would you like to give us a brief summary of your time at the head of FAO / Kigali?
Attaher Maiga (AM) I came to the end of my five-year mission in Rwanda. I must say that it is difficult to make such a report. There is so much going on in one day in this country, so every day is a record in itself. But if I have to do that, it’s first of all to look at the progress of agriculture in Rwanda in terms of increased production and productivity through the national programs that exist to do that. This is a given.
And also in terms of policies and strategies, I think that the environment in Rwanda is very well articulated around the marcoeconomic and sectoral policies. In agriculture, there is an agricultural policy and the transformation strategy of agriculture. I find these two policy and strategy documents well articulated and well developed. We also feel that given the environment, the system of accountability is quite solid in Rwanda.
I noticed that there is always this concern to see, compared to what we planned to do: What could not be done? What could not be done? This environment is very, very solid. It allows to really see the results we have achieved. It allows you to explain what you could not achieve.
In terms of balance sheet too, I was very impressed by the leadership of this country. A very enlightened leadership at the top, very visionary. We know that the leaders of this country have a vision for Rwanda. They know where they want to go in the near, medium and even long term future. This is called the Vision. They put all the commitment and all the resources available to achieve the goals that are reflected in the visions. And when I say leadership, it’s also multilevel. There is the highest level, the next, the intermediate, the national level, the decentralized level. This also impressed me a lot during my stay here.
I also think that Rwanda is a country where the national authorities are in the cockpit as they say in English “pilot site”. And that is very good. This means that the authorities determine where they want to go. And we as partners – specifically here I speak on behalf of FAO and the UN Family – make it easy for us because we are here to support the countries in their goals. fixed themselves. It’s not up to us to set priorities and goals. And here I think it’s something that I really enjoyed in Rwanda. This makes it easier for partners like us who are there to support the national priorities identified by the nationals themselves.
And in that sense, the record that I can do during my mission here is that I have tried to do my best to put at the disposal of the country the technical skills of my institution which is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO. We are not a financing institution. We are a Technical Agency with experience and expertise all over the world. And our role is to put this experience, this expertise, at the disposal of the country. And that’s what I tried to do during my mission here.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the national authorities with whom I had to work for facilitating this. Because I found in front of me very courteous interlocutors, willing to listen. This helped to achieve the goals they set for themselves. It is very nice to work in such an environment.
You see that the environment to achieve the results is very dynamic. In this sense, I greatly appreciated the system of “Imihigo” or Performance Contracts where each year the objectives are defined at all levels of leadership and techniques. A year later, we come back to say this has been done, this has not been done. This is something that I have during my stay here.
In order not to be too long, I would say that the concept of Home Grown Solutions is very good. The country is trying to find solutions to its problems while taking into account regional dynamics. This is something that I want to emphasize. At the level of agriculture that we develop, we try to see when we have the production to where to export its products. I welcome it for that.
I leave here satisfied with the time I spent here. Because I had very cordial relations. We work here with the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Land and Forests, Trade and Industry, and affiliated institutions. Of course, there is the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, which plays a very critical role in coordinating and harmonizing what is being done, and also making it available to Financial and Budget Resources. It is an environment that I appreciated for all the energy that one and the other put to achieve the goals of the country. So it’s difficult to take a five-year review. But these are the elements that I wanted to take up.
There are probably some unfinished programs or programs in continuity that you entrust to your successor.
We are in a dynamic environment. Everyone plays his score. I was there during my period. I did what I could, as best I could. Of course, the wheel continues to spin. My successor will have to take things where I left them to move in the direction desired by the national authorities. And in that sense, perhaps I would just like to mention the new programming cycle that is currently underway in Rwanda.
You know that most strategic policy documents stop in June 2018. And from July, there are new cycles that begin. And in the context of Agriculture precisely, there is the PSTA4, which is the Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture, the 4e Generation.
I think that my successor will be very pleased to be involved in the implementation of this PSTA4, which is in my opinion a truly Real Transformation Strategic Plan for Agriculture taking into account all the weaknesses of the previous Strategic Plan.
It takes into account the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), private sector engagement, agricultural research issues, the dimension of climate change, access to finance, but also the institutional dimension. Because, to transform agriculture, we must ensure that the institutions in place meet the requirements of the moment. Civil society and everyone there have really had wide consultation for the development of this strategic document.
In my opinion, my successor will really enjoy participating in the implementation of this Strategic Plan with regard to the Agriculture sector.
Of course, as I mentioned other national partners with whom we are working and who are dealing with the strategic document, I am confident that my successor will take all these issues to heart in order to contribute and provide the technical assistance that the FAO can contribute to the objectives that are defined in this document. This will actually be reflected in what we call FAO our “Country Programming Framework” which is also a five-year document based on national priorities. So we will have from 1er July 2018 a document of just Programming of the FAO in Rwanda which will be based on all this new dynamics which begins. So, I think that’s what I’ll leave to my successor as an implication.
– What is waiting for you in Niamey?
I do not have all the details yet about what is in Niger. But what I do know is that there are a number of challenges to overcome because Niger is a Sahelian country. The climate challenge is always present. All Sahelian countries face the variability of rainfall, recurring droughts are there. Niger is a country that is also very pastoral. Livestock is a very important sector. I am aware that there is a very important program called “3N” which means “Niger Feeds Nigeriens”, which is a very important food security program.
The challenges there are also early warning systems to ensure that we anticipate what will happen. And all this must be done in coordination with the other institutions working at the United Nations level and other development partners.
This is roughly the kind of challenge I expect in Niger. It will also be necessary to see, as I have done here, how to bring the experience and expertise of FAO. I am very, very happy that I could use some of the experiences and lessons I learned here in Rwanda to see how they can be applied to the context of Niger. I think this is important.
Interviewed in Kigali by André Gakwaya
