National Land Use and Development Master Plan (NLUDMP).

This National Land Use and Development Master Plan (NLUDMP) is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at guiding the optimal use of land with the main target of (i) finding the best balance sheet based on spatial and economic analysis; (ii) generating specific guidelines for implementation; (iii) designing a new and updated spatial structure for the nation considering that all settlements, urban, rural, big or small, are part of the national spatial puzzle, including Kigali and the secondary cities. The NLUDMP motto is “Ensuring tomorrow’s sustainability today!”, and its ideals are encapsulated in the word “COOPERATE” as follows (1) Consolidated development, (2) Orderly planning, (3) Openness for innovation, (4) Preservation of nature, (5) Economic yields, (6) Rational urbanization, (7) Ambient services, education and healthcare, (8) Transportation for all, (9) Employment all over. This new NLUDMP updates the first version adopted by the Cabinet in January of 2011.
Elimination of hunger and malnutrition and full food independence, given the potential for agricultural land, depends on increasing crops yields to the global best practice, rearing livestock in best practice and feeding them with imported feed, and full protection of the available agricultural land. The main needed interventions are (i) raising of productivity to provide food; (ii) protecting agricultural lands to have room for sustainable food security; (iii) enhance the equilibrium between cash crops (coffee, tea) and food crops; (iv) promotion of urban agriculture to support the urban dwellers with food security; (v) rely on food imports, especially from Tanzania.
To make agriculture, forestry, and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the NLUDMP suggests several interventions, mainly (i) farms mechanization and use high-tech inputs in higher volumes; (ii) expansion of farms by consolidating diffracted agricultural lands and eliminating scattered homesteads to allow the use of technology in agriculture; (iii) the area gained from the relocation of families and old houses destroyed used for agriculture development or afforestation ; (iv) improvement of agricultural productivity and crops' yields by farmland consolidation, irrigation projects; drainage projects; construction of terraces on hills' slopes, vertical farming; instruction/education for farmers’ professionalism; agricultural education research and development; (v) combine grazing in areas designated for conservation (nature reserves and forests) when this dual land use is possible; (vi) organizing different kinds of economic cooperation, instead of individual farming in smallholdings; (vii) promote up to 10% of the farming land in greenhouses, supporting the farmers with funds for the needed investments and professional instruction; (viii) populating lakes with fingerlings planned and managed from an ecological point of view; (ix) natural forests should be preserved entirely, and economically maintained and managed.
Rural poverty can be tackled mainly with interventions on the Imidugudu system, in particular by its restructuration into organized clusters. The new development must imply agglomeration and consolidation principles in terms of public and social amenities, community health posts, roads, markets, cowsheds, arable land per rural settlement, organization of different kinds of economic cooperation, production units, etc. The restructured Imidugudu and rural settlement should be of mixed-income and mixed-use to avoid segregation and ensure sustainability.
To enhance more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems, the Government will work (i) to develop the advanced food industry based on strong linkages between commercial farmers and industries; (ii) create a market-driven agricultural sector, linked to urbanization and trade; (iii) shift from subsistence farming towards commercial farming within an industry-services based economy; (iv) promote agricultural development project such as farmers' cooperatives formation.
The resilience of livelihoods to disasters will be increased through (i) implementation of climate-resilient options, such as improved bench terraces, agroforestry, improved seeds, drainage, irrigation; (ii) redesign of the industry to transform mining resources into crucial drivers of Rwanda’s growth; (iii) erosion control practices in unprotected areas or where the existing erosion control techniques are judged inadequate with regard to the type of risks found and existing land use; (iv) techniques applied early in the planning and design process to preserve and convey runoff like volume control, peak control or flood, capture and re-use; (v) promotion of green energy use, particularly in cities to increase the protection of forests; (vi) protection of all the water bodies and their buffer zones and the protected wetlands and their buffer zones; (vii) development of policies relating to water resources extraction and protection with a focus on enhancing saving and water conservation aligned with NLUDMP; (viii) development and implementation of storm water management practices in all the urban areas; (ix) mitigation of the impacts of pollution through solid waste management and waste water management.
As for Governance, a set of prerequisites are needed, such as consistency in prioritization, increasing the role of the private sector, deepening regional integration, adopting an unconventional approach. “Business-as-usual” is not sufficient to reach the objectives of Vision 2050. As a result, the Government must build the State’s core capabilities based on capacity, meritocracy, coordination, and rule-based authority. Strengthen market economy foundations, accountability of the country, and ensure that policies and programs are aligned with the needs of citizens.