The economy of the District is primarily based on agriculture and livestock farming with other sectors being developed progressively. The food production is concentrated on the growing of cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, sorghum, soy bean , peas, bananas, irish potatoes, rice, groundnuts, maize and vegetables with cassava, sweet potatoes, sorghum and rice dominating the production.
The district also produces coffee and fruits like pineapples. The district has 8 coffee washing stations owned either by private individuals or MINADEF.
Livestock farming in Kamonyi District include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, poultry, etc. Concerning fishing, it is not well developed because the District has very few ponds of which most of them are damaged and unusable. Each year the district produces only 0.7 tonnes of fish.
The veterinary dispensaries are under-equipped and lack transportation facilities in such a way that the available veterinary doctors are unable to cover the whole District. The leading causes of livestock morbidity are verminoses, théilériose, anaplasmose, trypanosomiasis, brucellosis and mammites.
Livestock farming remains extensive and genetic improvement is carried out on a very small scale. The cost of artificial insemination (3000 Frw per insemination) seems too high for most farmers in the district. The low rate of success of insemination discourages certain farmers.
In Kamonyi District there is also bee-keeping which gives an annual honey production of 71.2 tonnes.
Kamonyi District has got several swamps inter alia: Rwabashyashya, Kibuza, Bishenyi, Gikoro, Kayumbu, Mpomboli, Kivogo, Kavunja, Akanyaru, Mukunguli, Barama, Ruvubu and Nyabarongo swamps. They cover a surface area of 1,935 hectares, of which the biggest part is used for the food production except for Nyabarongo swamp which is partly covered by the Kabuye sugar plantations. The District also has several other small swamps covering a surface area of 285.5 ha of which 266 ha are arranged for agriculture and 19,5 ha are not yet prepared.
|
|
|
|
|
