Between 21-23 March 2012, Kigali played host to the 2nd eDiary Conference and Exhibition, at which the Rwanda Development Board (BRD), Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI), Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Rwanda National Diary Board (RNDB) among other local institutions met with their counterparts from the East African region. Following the 1st eDiary Conference held in October 2010 in Nairobi, KDB recommended that the second conference be held in Kigali.
The 2nd eDiary Conference and Exhibition aimed at establishing a long-term strategic partnership and develop ICT for Agribusiness knowledge transfer between Kenya, Rwanda, India, Israel and USA. To this end, it is hoped that the initiative will then attract, retain and motivate ICT innovators interested in entrepreneurial aspects of the e-Diary subsector or in new ICT opportunities in Agribusiness.
Mr. Machira Gichohi, Managing Director of KDB notes that Rwanda has embraced an exciting ICT strategy through the fibre optic internet across the country, making it easier to roll out the eDiary project. And, even more important, her industrial and manufacturing sectors have been growing steadily. At the conference, Rwanda had the opportunity to showcase the investment opportunities in the diary subsector so as to identify new clients or partners for implementation of her eDiary project.
The Rwanda Government, through various agencies and development partners is committed to modernising the diary sector to maximize on returns as part of the poverty reduction strategy. Notably, the modernisation of the diary sub sector involves the automation of the diary sector through eDiary Technology which enhances milk traceability, quality control and efficiency in delivery ad returns to the farmer.
The eDiary technology was pioneered in East Africa in Kenya by Kenya Dairy Board (KBD), whose objective is to automate the sector through infrastructure development and policy mechanisms to ensure that all stakeholders along the chain work efficiently to attain international (milk) market standards.
