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rwandarwanda’s firsT slOw fOOd presidiuM was seT up TO prOMOTe a lOcal breed under ThreaT frOM a prOducTiOn-cenTric agriculTural pOlicy. The inyaMbO cOw is gradually being replaced by friesians, which are expensive TO rear and pOOrly suiTed TO The cOunTry’s envirOnMenT and cliMaTe.Let’S turn the greenrevoluTion around20 AlMAnACtyphaine briandIn Rwanda, the Inyambo cow, also known as the Ankole, is a potent symbol. With its majestic lyre-shaped horns, the noble animal has inspired traditional Rwandan dances, and un- til the end of the monarchy system, all the Inyambo cows in the kingdom belonged to the king. Yet it is not the Inyambo cow that features on Rwan- dan banknotes, alongside the moun- tain gorilla and solar energy, but the foreign Friesian.FriEsiAn prEdominAncEIn Rwanda, as in many other countries around the world, the Green Revolu- tion has been seen as a way to tackle poverty and encourage economic de- velopment. After drawing up a strategic document on poverty, as demanded by the International Monetary Fund and theWorld Bank as a condition for accessing international funding, in 2006 the coun- try launched a wide-ranging Crop Inten- sification Program (CIP). Still in force, its aim was to increase national agricultural production in order to feed the popula- tion while simultaneously exporting pro- duce for the international market, taking account of the country’s demographic and geographical constraints.With 402 people per square kilometer, Rwanda is the most densely popu- lated country in sub-Saharan Africa. Its rugged landscape—not for nothing is known as the “land of a thousand hills”—and position nestled next to the Great Lakes only increase pres- sure on the land. To develop agricul- tural planning over such a fragmented country, it was decided to regionalize© TrIPod