Rwanda
Future Agricultural and Economic Development
Current Rwanda
•HDI ranking of 166
•50% of population below poverty line
•Weak government, large debt, social issues
•Most densely populated African country
•90% of labor force engaged in subsistence farming
•Agriculture accounts for 35% of the country’s GDP and 45% of all exports
•Main cash crops – coffee, tea
Our Plan:
Vertical Farming
Vertical Farming is the concept of expanding the yield of the crop by increasing the bushels/acre farmed, which can be achieved several different ways. • Actually going vertical, by expanding the amount of land being cultivated by building a skyscraper • Or by solely producing more usable crops per plant by increasing the yield of each plant through Genetically Modified Organisms (or GMO's)
Service-Based Economy
The small size of Rwanda and dense population places the country in a position to invest in the Fiber Optic internet age • A small investment in a Fiber Optic network will allow the country to become a hub for the telecommunications sector • Through the utilization of VPN, and their multilingual culture, Rwanda could compete with countries like India by providing communication services throughout Europe and the US
Improve Transportation
Because Rwanda is landlocked, we will need to go through other neighboring countries to export our goods by sea • We will develop alternative transportation to the sea at a low cost through the railway systems of neighboring countries by extending our own railway systems • A railway project is already underway through Uganda and Kenya, and we would also conjoin with Tanzania’s railway system
Summary
•Using vertical farming we hope to increase Rwanda’s GDP
•We will focus on promoting Rwanda as a prime locus for telecommunications and infrastructure
•We will invest in railway systems to ultimately lower transportation costs
•Goals: decrease poverty and debt and ultimately attract investors in order to further develop this country