Rwanda tries to protect farmland in Africa’s most densely populated nation

The rhythmic sounds of construction muffle the thud of farmers’ hoes on a chilly morning in Rwanda ‘s capital, where new efforts aim to protect remaining agricultural land from relentless development in Africa’s most densely populated country.

Eighty-four-year-old Mukarusini Purisikira had been a farmer before she fled the country to Congo during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Upon returning, she said, her family’s land, which had stretched across the hills, had been taken away for construction. She gestured toward Kigali’s high-rise buildings.

Now she grows maize and sweet potatoes on a piece of land the size of a small cottage, which she said is barely enough to feed her.

“It is all I have,” she said, looking warily at construction equipment on a ridge nearby.

Now she has a measure of protection. Since September, Rwanda’s government has been mapping agricultural land and using satellite imagery to track any development encroaching on