The early harvest of the 2017 agriculture season has started easing the pressure on food supplies in Rwanda, following the worst drought in six decades that largely hit parts of Eastern Province last year.

The year-long drought effects led to a rise in prices of basic foods.

The short supply locally led to increased imports of cassava, bananas and other staples from Uganda and Tanzania.

According to local traders, the early harvest, which started in December, brought in large amounts of legumes and potatoes that brought down the prices as well as lowered the demand for imported items.

Only cassava and green bananas are still being brought in from Uganda to fill the supply gap after bad weather coupled with disease affected expected harvests.

An assessment in Eastern Province by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal resources revealed that between September 2015 and June 2016, drought affected crops on 16,119 hectares of land in Kayonza District, 6,619 hectares in Nyagatare District and 750 hectares in Kirehe District.

The country is yet to fully recover from effects of the drought as the increase in food prices could take time to reverse, even as the weatherman predicts normal conditions.

Inflation stood at 7.4 per cent in January, with the fresh products index having increased by 17.8 per cent, according to the National Institute of Statistics.

Agriculture Ministry officials said efforts were being made to manage water resources for crop irrigation and livestock farming in drought-prone areas. These could help mitigate potential food crises in the future.

Rwanda continues to carry out a review of its agriculture policy to factor in climate-related aspects, among other things.

The country’s potential irrigable area is 589,711 hectares, but only 45,000 hectares is estimated to be irrigated currently. The government plans to have 100,000 hectares of irrigated land in the next three years.

The recent drought led to the loss of crops and livestock on thousands of hectares.