Intervention area : KAYONZA and NYANZA Districts

Implementors : IMBARAGA Farmers Organization and SDA IRIBA in partnership with TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL-RWANDA, with the Support from the World Bank

Project Period : April 2017-January 2022

I.Project objective:
Contribute to improving the effectiveness of public agriculture projects at the decentralized level by using social accountability tools to strengthen citizen participation in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of district performance contracts known as “Imihigo”.
II.Problem Description:
• Existing of numerous platforms which engage citizens: Umuganda, inteko z’abaturage…..this includes specific forums for farmers: Twigire Muhinzi
• Forums used mainly for channeling important information and to a less extent for engaging citizens in planning, monitoring and evaluation of priority programs.
• Lack of feedback to citizens of priorities set in Imihigo and this result in:
• lack of ownership of the projects,
• delayed implementation,
• poor budget execution and
• weak public financial management in the delivery chain.
III.Project Beneficiaries
Direct beneficiaries:
• 501 farmers in Kayonza and 809 farmers in Nyanza
• Ministry of Agriculture and Animals Resources (MINAGRI)
Indirect beneficiaries:
• 189,000 individuals in Kayonza and 256,000 individuals in Nyanza whose livelihoods depend on agriculture
• Rwandan citizens in general (scaling up of citizen participation tools)
• Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC) and Rwanda Governance Board (RGB)
Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA).
Project Partners:
• Transparency International Rwanda will coordinate the project and lead the dialogue with key institutions as well as national level advocacy.
• Imbaraga and SDA-IRIBA will spearhead implementation in one pilot district each.
IV.Three components:
Component 1 : Increasing farmers’ ownership of agricultural projects
Objective:
Increase farmers’ participation in the planning (priorities-setting) phase of the district Imihigo in Kayonza and Nyanza districts.
Main activities:
 Develop tools for collecting farmers priorities to be included in Imihigo develop tools for collecting farmers priorities to be included in Imihigo
 Collect and compile farmer’s priorities per sector to be shared with the district authorities for the inclusion of the priorities in the Imihigo contracts.
 Provide feedback to farmers about the approved Imihigo
 Develop and implement social accountability tool to monitor the implementation of most important agricultural projects included in Imihigo.
Component 2: Deepening cooperation between CSOs and government officials
Objective:
Strengthen the cooperation between CSOs and government officials for enhanced effectiveness of agricultural projects.
Main activities:
 Conduct workshops with government officials at the national and district levels to discuss project objectives and align incentives.
 Conduct meeting involving farmers’ representatives and government officials at district level to discuss farmers priorities to be included in imihigo
Implement the Civil Society Procurement Monitoring Tool developed by the Transparency International to monitor public procurement associated with the implementation of projects included in the Imihigo projects.
Component 3: Sharing knowledge and lessons learned
 Develop a policy paper on the Imihigo planning process to assess the information produced by the monitoring activities and to draw lessons to improve the planning process.
 Implementing Knowledge and Learning activities for CSOs on social accountability tools