Rwanda’s Agricultural Transformation: The Digital Revolution Begins
Rwanda is embarking on a new era of agricultural development, driven by innovative systems and data. At the core of this transformation is the Agricultural Management Information System (AMIS), a national digital platform designed as part of Rwanda’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the agriculture sector. AMIS is more than just a system—it serves as the foundation for Rwanda’s future in smart agriculture.
The platform aims to unify various services such as farmer registration, livestock identification, input distribution, veterinary care, production tracking, subsidy administration, insurance, and extension support. By integrating these fragmented services into a single, cohesive platform, AMIS will enhance efficiency, ensure equity, and enable real-time responsiveness across the sector.
Agriculture plays a significant role in Rwanda’s economy, contributing 24.1% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing over 61% of the population. It supports more than 3.3 million smallholder farmers. The livestock sector alone includes 1.4 million cattle, 4.5 million goats, and over 6 million poultry, contributing nearly 13% of agricultural GDP. However, service delivery and progress monitoring have been hindered by paper-based records, duplicated databases, and siloed systems.
With over USD 15 million already mobilized, AMIS is currently under construction. Funding comes from multiple sources, including the German Development Bank (KfW) through the ICT Facility, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) via the Rwanda Dairy Development Project (RDDP) Phase 2, and the World Bank under the Commercialization and De-risking for Agricultural Transformation Project (CDAT). Technical coordination is managed by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, with strategic oversight from the Ministry of Information Communication Technology and Innovation (MINICT) and the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA).
Starting in July 2025, AMIS will launch its livestock digitalization component, beginning with the tagging and registration of over one million cattle. Each animal will receive a unique digital ID and health card, recording key life events such as birth, vaccinations, breeding, treatment, and sale. Approximately 5,000 public and private veterinarians will be equipped with tablets to register livestock, manage licensing, and deliver services directly through AMIS. This initiative is supported by the World Bank’s Rwanda Digital Acceleration Project.
Livestock owners will gain secure digital proof of ownership and access to formal services like veterinary care, insurance, input programs, and loans. The government will benefit from tools for disease surveillance, movement control, and export traceability. Financial institutions and insurers will access verified livestock histories to reduce risk and unlock investment.
AMIS is designed for scalability and innovation. Through open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), it will allow banks, private sector entities, agribusinesses, cooperatives, insurance providers, and startups to connect securely. These actors can build new products such as credit, insurance, and input financing using real-time, verified production data.
Beyond service delivery, AMIS serves as a platform for national policy and investment planning. Interactive policy dashboards will enable government institutions and districts to monitor program reach, track extension coverage, validate subsidy targeting, and respond to emerging needs. These dashboards will facilitate evidence-based decisions around budget allocation, strategic investments, and prioritization of services, particularly for youth and women farmers.
AMIS is also designed to integrate with emerging technologies. It will work with an AI-powered voice-enabled agricultural chatbot embedded in the National Agriculture Call Centre (toll-free 4127). This chatbot will access verified farmer and livestock profiles to offer personalized advice, referrals, and follow-ups. Satellite imagery and remote sensing will be incorporated for agricultural monitoring, yield forecasting, climate alerts, and geo-referenced planning.
Institutional integrity and sustainability are central to AMIS’s design. A national Digitalization Steering Committee has been established to provide governance and cross-sector coordination. The committee includes representatives from multiple ministries and organizations, ensuring comprehensive oversight. With support from CENFRI, a comprehensive data strategy has already been completed, and a national data governance framework is under development to ensure security, quality, and responsible use of agricultural data.
Data-sharing protocols and interoperability standards are being established with support from GIZ to ease data sharing and strengthen accessibility. A sustainability model is being finalized to manage long-term system upkeep, ease data-sharing agreements, and encourage innovation while maintaining data sovereignty.
AMIS is inclusive by design. While accessible via smartphones and web interfaces, it is also compatible with USSD and SMS to ensure access for the 70%+ of farmers still using basic phones. Farmers will be able to view their records, receive SMS alerts, validate service delivery, and access advisories in real time. The system also enables gender and youth-disaggregated tracking, aligning public investments and development programs with national equity and inclusion goals.
As Rwanda becomes increasingly climate-sensitive, data-dependent, and export-oriented, AMIS represents a strategic shift from fragmented interventions to an integrated, digital-first approach. It is not just another short-term solution or donor-funded pilot—it is a national infrastructure, long-term, government-led, and future-proof. AMIS enables the government to deliver agricultural services with speed, equity, and precision, empowers the private sector to innovate, scale, and invest with confidence, and positions Rwanda as a leader in technologically driven agricultural transformation. It gives farmers control, visibility, and access to opportunity. With AMIS, Rwanda is not just digitizing agriculture—it is building the infrastructure to transform it.
