58 SAS–2026 A © NISR Table 34: Percentage of plots by categories of Erosion Control Measures per Districts District Plots under erosion control measures Categories of erosion control measures adopted Measures to control Low-rate erosion Measures to control Moderate rate erosion Measures to control Severe rate erosion Nyarugenge 52.6 41.9 5.1 5.6 Gasabo 59.8 27.9 9.3 22.7 Kicukiro 27.6 23.0 1.8 2.8 Nyanza 80.0 41.5 25.2 13.3 Gisagara 63.7 27.4 25.4 10.9 Nyaruguru 85.3 33.0 24.1 28.1 Huye 71.5 38.8 25.4 7.3 Nyamagabe 75.3 31.3 17.0 27.0 Ruhango 68.4 23.8 19.4 25.2 Muhanga 77.0 58.4 12.4 6.2 Kamonyi 84.5 53.5 21.3 9.8 Karongi 73.9 41.9 21.8 10.1 Rutsiro 76.5 44.0 6.2 26.4 Rubavu 76.1 51.7 1.6 22.8 Nyabihu 84.9 53.2 3.0 28.8 Ngororero 88.4 61.5 20.4 6.6 Rusizi 71.7 54.4 13.3 4.1 Nyamasheke 76.2 55.4 9.4 11.5 Rulindo 87.9 47.1 15.1 25.8 Gakenke 88.4 64.5 5.2 18.7 Musanze 62.6 47.3 3.7 11.6 Burera 81.0 51.7 11.9 17.4 Gicumbi 88.1 42.8 3.2 42.1 Rwamagana 78.2 45.9 19.0 13.3 Nyagatare 55.1 32.5 12.0 10.6 Gatsibo 81.3 65.1 10.4 5.8 Kayonza 55.4 30.4 17.3 7.7 Kirehe 53.3 40.7 2.2 10.4 Ngoma 56.0 42.4 9.3 4.3 Bugesera 48.5 28.7 9.9 9.9 National 74.7 44.8 13.9 16.0 Source: NISR, SAS 2026
59
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© NISR
Table 35: 2026 Season A_Percentage of plots by degree of erosion per district
District
Degree of erosion
Severe (Rill erosion, Gully erosion,
Mass movement/Landslides)
Moderate (Diffuse overland flow
erosion, overland flow erosion)
Low (Wind erosion)
Very Low (Splash erosion)
Nyarugenge
0.5
21.7
4.9
73.0
Gasabo
0.2
4.8
24.9
70.2
Kicukiro
1.5
0.2
0.4
97.9
Nyanza
0.0
2.3
46.9
50.8
Gisagara
1.7
17.4
33.0
47.9
Nyaruguru
0.9
6.8
44.9
47.5
Huye
2.7
11.2
21.5
64.6
Nyamagabe
3.3
24.3
13.1
59.3
Ruhango
1.9
4.4
28.0
65.7
Muhanga
2.4
14.0
36.5
47.1
Kamonyi
2.4
17.2
17.7
62.8
Karongi
6.4
18.7
42.7
32.2
Rutsiro
1.2
5.5
17.4
76.0
Rubavu
0.7
9.0
51.6
38.7
Nyabihu
2.2
16.5
40.3
41.0
Ngororero
1.4
13.3
44.2
41.2
Rusizi
0.6
4.6
48.2
46.6
Nyamasheke
0.5
11.2
55.6
32.7
Rulindo
0.0
21.1
37.7
41.3
Gakenke
0.9
15.2
45.3
38.6
Musanze
0.0
28.8
28.8
42.4
Burera
0.4
2.5
53.4
43.6
Gicumbi
6.3
10.3
22.4
61.1
Rwamagana
0.2
14.0
26.5
59.4
Nyagatare
0.1
3.2
14.0
82.8
Gatsibo
0.1
2.2
19.7
78.0
Kayonza
0.7
9.2
45.2
45.0
Kirehe
0.8
3.3
44.4
51.5
Ngoma
0.3
5.8
47.0
47.0
Bugesera
0.0
1.2
31.7
67.1
National
1.6
11.2
35.2
52.1
Source: NISR, SAS 2026
ANNEX 60 SAS–2026 A © NISR
- Total land area Total land area at the district level is defined as the district area excluding area under inland water bodies. The definition of inland water bodies generally includes major rivers and lakes.
- Agricultural area Agricultural area includes arable land, land under permanent2 crops and permanent pasture.
- Arable land Arable land IS defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted only once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow (for a period less than five years). Abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is excluded from this category. Data on arable land are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable.
- Permanent crop land Permanent crops are sown or planted once and remain on the land for some years, without requiring to be replanted after each annual harvest, such as cocoa, coffee and rubber. This category includes flowering shrubs, fruit trees, nut trees, and vines, but excludes trees grown for wood or timber. Within the SAS, the following crops are considered as permanent crops: Cooking banana, Dessert banana, Banana for beer, Avocado, Coffee, Sugar cane, Macadamia, Olive, Mango, Apple, Papaya, Orange, Lemon, Guava, Mulberry, Stevia, Jatropha, Palm, and Tea.
- Permanent pasture land Permanent pasture refers to land used on a permanent basis (for five years or more) for herbaceous forage crops, whether cultivated or growing wild, including wild prairie or grazing land.
- Irrigated agricultural land Area equipped for irrigation indicates land that is actually irrigated, sometimes expressed as a percentage of the total land area. This includes area equipped for full or partial control irrigation, equipped lowland areas, and areas equipped for spate irrigation. The portion of the equipped area that is irrigated refers to physical areas. Irrigated land that is cultivated more than once a year is counted only once.
- Physical area Physical area is defined as the total area of a plot as physically measured. The physical agricultural area for a district is estimated by aggregating all weighted individual agricultural plot areas within that district.
- For some plots, permanent crops are mixed with temporary crops which mean that same area is counted in both arable land area and area under permanent crop. Concepts, definitions, and estimation methods 1
61 SAS–2026 A © NISR 8. Crop area (cultivated area) Crop area refers to the area occupied by a given crop within a plot, considering its density or occupation. In context of Rwanda, as well as in many African countries, mixed cropping system is a general practice in agriculture. This practice makes it complex to estimate area under crop cultivation. For pure stands, where a crop completely covers a plot, crop area is equal to or less than the physical plot area (if a crop is partially covering the plot, the share is estimated and applied to the plot area). For mixed crops, enumerators estimate the share of each crop within the plot using an eye estimation method based on plant spacing; this proportion is then applied to the physical area of the plot to obtain area for each specific crop planted. Cultivated area at the district level is defined as the total of weighted crop areas across all plots within the district. Examples • For pure stands, the crop area equals the physical area when the crop fully covers the whole plot. If the crop area covers only a portion of the plot, the crop area is less than the physical area. For example, a plot of 1 hectare where maize is grown and completely occupies the whole plot (100 % occupied), the cultivated area for maize is 1 hectare. On the other side, if the maize crop occupies 80 % of the total plot area, the maize area equals 0.8 hectares (1hectare times 0.8). • Under a mixed cropping system, specifically for seasonal crops, the crop area is less than the physical area. For example, a plot of 1 ha grown with maize and beans, where maize occupies 60 % and beans occupy 40 % of the total plot area. The maize area would be 0.6 ha (1hectare times 0.6), and the beans area would be 0.4 ha (1ha times 0.4). It is important to note that the sum of the shares for seasonal crops does not exceed 100%. • When seasonal and perennial crops are mixed within the same plot, since perennial crops are permanent crops in nature, their shares are treated separately from seasonal crops. The sum of seasonal crops share does not exceed 100 %, while for perennial crops shares are given based on density (spacing between trees) and it may exceed 100 percent. For example, a plot of 1 hectare grown with maize, beans, and cassava with 60 %, 40 % and 50% shares respectively. Maize area will be 0.6 hectare (1hectare times 0.6), beans area will be 0.4(1hectare times 0.4), while cassava area will be 0.5 hectare (1hectare times 0.5). 9. Developed area Developed area refers to the land covered by crops. Due to mixed cropping (over-exploitation or, in the case of pure cropping, under-exploitation of agricultural land), the developed area can be either less than or greater than the physical area. Basing on the example provided above of a plot where maize, beans and cassava have been mixed, maize occupies 0.6 ha, beans occupy 0.4 ha, and cassava occupies 0.5 ha. The developed area equals the sum of the crop areas equivalent to 1.5 ha. 10. Harvested area Harvested area is defined as the total number of hectares of all crops harvested during a given agricultural season. In case of crops considered as seasonal, harvested area is assumed to equal cultivated area. For perennial crops, a farmer can decide to harvest a portion of land and stores the remaining production on the farm, or harvest the whole plot for commercial or other purposes. In this case, the proportion of harvested area is estimated and applied to the plot area to obtain the actual harvested area. For example, cassava which occupies 0.5 hectare has 5,000 trees of cassava. If, during agricultural Season A, the farmer harvested only 1,250 trees, then the farmer harvested only a quarter (0.125hectares) of the cultivated area.
62 SAS–2026 A © NISR 11. Crop yield Crop yield is defined as the total reported quantity of a harvested crop divided by the harvested area of that crop. 12. Crop production Crop production is the product of crop yield and crop area (harvested). At the district level, crop production is estimated by multiplying the crop yield by the total harvested area within the district.
ANNEX
63
SAS–2026 A
© NISR
National Coordinators
•
MURENZI Ivan, Director General
•
MWIZERWA Jean Claude, Deputy Director General
Technical coordination
•
SIBOMANA Oscar, Acting Director of Economic Statistics Department
•
BIGIRIMANA Florent, Census Program Manager
•
MUHOZA Didier, Economic Statistics Project Manager
Field work coordination
•
KAMANZI SHINGIRO Jean Philbert, SAS Specialist
•
MUKAMAZIMPAKA Francine, Perennial crops and horticulture statistician
•
BYUKUSENGE Josiane, Seasonal Crop Production Statistician
•
SINDIKUBWABO Ezechias, Livestock and Fisheries Production Statistician
•
INEZA Belise, Support Staff
Data analysis
•
ABAYISENGA Aimable, SAS Specialist
•
RWAYITARE Jean Bosco, SAS Specialist
•
MUREBWAYIRE Divine, SAS Specialist
•
USABYIMANA Monique, Forestry and Environmental Statistician
•
DUSINGIZIMANA Emmanuel, Agriculture and Environmental Statistician Team Leader
GIS
•
NIYITEGEKA Beata, GIS Team Leader
•
IRAMBONA Eddy Marcus, GIS Specialist
•
MUNDERERE Theophile, GIS Specialist
•
BIZIMUNGU Clément, Field operations Cartographer Officer
•
KARERA Albert, Geometrician in charge of map design & production
•
NYIRIMANZI Louis Maxime, Spatial database Geometrician
•
NDAZIGARUYE Alfred, GIS Support Staff
•
NGABO MUHIRE Olympe, GIS Support Staff
NISR STAFF WHO CONTRIBUTED TO SEASONAL
AGRICULTURE SURVEY 2026 SEASON A
2
64 SAS–2026 A © NISR Data processing • NIYIGENA Eric, Application Admin and Data Processing Officer Report writing and editing • RWAYITARE Jean Bosco, SAS Specialist • DUSINGIZIMANA Emmanuel, Agriculture and Environmental Statistician Team Leader Proofreading • KALISA NEEMA Grace, Communication Specialist Layout, Typesetting & Designing • UWAMUNGU Thierry, Publication Specialist • BYUKUSENGE Josiane, Statistician • MUSHIMIYIMANA Desire, Design and Publications Support Staff • KAGOYIRE Delphine, Design and Publications Support Staff • AMANI Sylvestre, Design and Publications Support Staff