Reviving research in Rwanda

For me, the big highlight during the past year has been the new partnership we have created in Rwanda.

A small organization like the World Agroforestry Centre would have relatively little influence if its scientists worked in isolation. That is why partnerships – with national research institutes, universities, nongovernmental organizations, private businesses, farmers' groups and others – are so important. At the last count, scientists at the Centre had formal partnerships with over 1000 different institutions and individuals across the globe.

"For me, the big highlight during the past year has been the new partnership we have created in Rwanda," says August Temu, Director of Partnerships at the headquarters in Nairobi.

In early 2010, Temu and colleagues visited Rwanda to devise a new strategy. A partnership with a government research institute, established several years earlier, simply was not working. It was time to change tack. Following discussions with government officials, Temu and his colleagues approached the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research, known by its French acronym IRST. The Director General, Jean-Baptiste Nduwayezu, who has an agroforestry background, immediately expressed his enthusiasm for a new partnership and IRST offered the Centre office space at its headquarters in Butare.

In 2010, Athanase Mukuralinda, a Rwanda scientist who conducted his PhD studies with support from World Agroforestry, was appointed country representative. He developed a new strategy for research, linking with the National University of Rwanda's Faculty of Agriculture. Graduate students will now undertake thesis research at the Centre's office, under joint supervision with the faculty.

"I'm convinced that the new partnership will yield significant results, both in terms of research and in helping to transform the livelihoods of rural communities," says Temu. "The Government of Rwanda has made it very clear that it wants us to engage more fully in research in the country, and I think we have a very bright future there."