Livestock, dairy, poultry and aquaculture: Law N° 042/2026 governing animal husbandry and fisheries, farmer and animal registration, disease control and stamping-out, veterinary services, drugs and feed, imports and movement certificates, milk collection and slaughterhouse licensing by RICA, fish farming on Lake Kivu, beekeeping and the Gishwati pastures

The 2026 law on animal husbandry and fisheries

Livestock, fish and bees are governed since 11 September 2026 by Law N° 042/2026 of 02/09/2026 governing animal husbandry and fisheries, adopted by the Chamber of Deputies at its sitting of 28 July 2026 and published, with the companion Law N° 041/2026 governing agriculture, in the Official Gazette n° Special Bis of 11/09/2026. It came into force on publication (Article 68) and, unlike Law N° 041/2026, was drafted, considered and adopted in Ikinyarwanda (Article 67). Article 66 repealed four laws: Law n° 33/2002 of 06/11/2002 regarding livestock identification, Law n° 54/2008 of 10/09/2008 determining the prevention and fight against contagious diseases for domestic animals, Law n° 58/2008 of 10/09/2008 determining the organisation and management of aquaculture and fishing, and Law n° 25/2013 of 10/05/2013 on beekeeping. The Law applies to terrestrial and aquatic animal husbandry, unprocessed animal products, fisheries, animal welfare and the One Health approach (Article 3), which every farmer, veterinary doctor and the Authority must follow (Article 4).

The Law allocates powers among three kinds of body. "The Authority" is the public organ in charge of animal husbandry and fisheries (Article 2(s)), in practice the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB): it registers farmers and animals, authorises beekeeping, aquaculture and imports of animals, controls diseases and issues movement certificates. A separate authority in charge of the inspection of the quality of animal products and of animal feed issues transport certificates for animal products, import permits for animal products, premises certificates and feed licences (Articles 23, 54, 55 and 57); in practice this is RICA, the Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority established by Law N° 31/2017 of 25/07/2017, which already licenses milk centres, slaughterhouses, butcheries and feed premises. The authority in charge of veterinary drugs approves medicines (Articles 45 and 47), which is Rwanda FDA under Law N° 003/2018 of 09/02/2018. The Minister in charge of animal husbandry decides outbreaks and hierarchical appeals.

Two features of the reform need attention. First, almost every operational rule is left to an Order of the Minister: farmer categories and registration, procedures for ruminants, non-ruminants and companion animals, beekeeping and aquaculture authorisations, identification marks, feed handling and licences, genetic material, welfare, the list of diseases, biosecurity, veterinary services, movements, imports, trade premises, fishing and fishery products, and administrative sanctions (Article 62). None of those Orders had been found published at 16 October 2026. Second, the Law contains no transitional provision: it does not say whether Ministerial Orders made under the repealed laws, such as the 2010 Orders on slaughtering and meat inspection and on meat transport and the 2016 milk Order, made under Law n° 54/2008, continue to apply until replaced, or whether licences issued under them remain valid. RICA and RAB continue to apply the existing instruments in practice, but investors should not assume that an old-law permit protects them against a new Order. Decisions of the Authority can be challenged by a written internal appeal within 30 days of notification, answered within 30 days, and then a hierarchical appeal to the Minister within 30 days (Article 65). The overall framework is described in Agricultural policy, law and regulators.

The sector in numbers and the policy targets

Livestock is a large but mostly smallholder activity. MINAGRI's annual report for 2022/23, quoted in the Livestock Development Strategy 2024-2029 of January 2024, counted 1,644,692 cattle, 1,995,636 goats, 440,214 sheep, 1,123,075 pigs, 656,153 rabbits and 6,047,215 poultry. Milk production rose from 503,130 tonnes in 2013 to 1,061,301 tonnes in 2022/23, meat reached 197,778 tonnes, eggs 17,344 tonnes and hides and skins 6,027 tonnes. The Strategy records 132 milk collection centres with a cooling capacity of 483,000 litres a day, 50 milk processing plants (7 large and 43 small and medium) with 254,000 litres a day of capacity, and a milk powder plant under construction in Nyagatare District with a planned capacity of 500,000 litres a day. Livestock exports in the Strategy's NISR data included about 43,861 cattle, 69,473 pigs and 12.4 million litres of milk; much of this trade is regional.

The Fifth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA5) sets the investment targets. From a 2023 baseline, it aims at milk of 1,323,561 tonnes, meat of 247,223 tonnes (poultry meat 65,950 tonnes), eggs of 51,680 tonnes, honey of 17,035 tonnes and fish of 77,700 tonnes by 2028/29, the farmed share rising from 7,495 to 35,000 tonnes; export targets include USD 89.6 million for dairy products, USD 59.4 million for eggs and USD 401.5 million for fish. The National Aquaculture Strategy 2023-2035 aims at about 80,000 tonnes of farmed fish a year by 2035, over 85% of it from cages. These are policy targets, not commitments, but they explain where the State offers land, extension and co-investment.

For incentives, the Investment Code defines large-scale agricultural operations, a priority manufacturing sector, to include livestock production of at least 5,000 chickens and at least 500 other animals (the Code joins the two figures with 'and') and fish production of at least 500 tonnes a year (Article 2(30)). A registered investor in such an operation may qualify for the preferential 15% corporate income tax rate and other Annex incentives on the Code's conditions (FAQ 9; FAQ 34). Unprocessed agricultural and livestock products, processed milk other than powdered milk, listed agricultural inputs and livestock insurance are exempt from VAT (VAT and electronic invoicing), and the premium subsidy for livestock insurance is covered in Agribusiness incentives, tax, finance and insurance.

Farming livestock: registration, identification, welfare and land

Animal husbandry is carried out on land or in water (Article 5). Farmers are classified as small-scale, medium-scale or large-scale on criteria to be set by Ministerial Order (Article 7), and every farmer, of whatever size, must register with the Authority (Article 8). Farmers must use methods based on modern knowledge and technology suited to their category and ensure sustainable production, under guidelines of the Authority (Article 6), and must ensure the health and welfare of ruminants, non-ruminants and companion animals under procedures set by Order (Articles 9 and 10). Every animal reared in or imported into Rwanda must bear identification marks affixed by the Authority (Article 18) and be registered by the farmer (Article 19); a breeder producing genetic material registers the pedigree by breed (Article 20).

Article 29 makes animal welfare a legal duty for anyone dealing with animals, by reference to six principles: protection from hunger and thirst, a balanced diet, protection from fear and distress, from physical discomfort and from pain, injury and disease, and freedom to express normal behaviour. Genetic improvement may use pure-breeding or cross-breeding by natural mating, artificial insemination or embryo transfer, and parent stock for poultry, insects and fish (Article 25); only the Authority or persons it authorises may prepare, multiply or distribute genetic material, which the Authority must approve (Article 26), and importing or exporting semen, embryos or genetic material requires a permit (Article 27).

Land is the main constraint. Livestock land is held under the same tenure rules as farmland, with a 99-year emphyteutic lease term for livestock land (Agricultural land, irrigation and water; FAQ 48). MINAGRI's Livestock Development Strategy records special zero-grazing instructions for the Eastern Province Districts of Nyagatare, Gatsibo, Kayonza and Kirehe, under which only 30% of the land is to be used for zero-grazing dairy production and 70% for feed crops such as maize, beans and soybeans; the Strategy reports that 94% of dairy animals are kept under zero-grazing. In the west, joint instructions of the Ministers of Environment and of Agriculture published in February 2025 restrict the Gishwati pastures in Nyabihu, Rubavu, Ngororero and Rutsiro, allocated in 2007 and 2008, to modern cattle husbandry, fix allocations at 5 hectares for an individual and 10 for a cooperative, prohibit subdivision, bar anyone who holds pasture land elsewhere in Rwanda from holding Gishwati pasture, allow transfers only as a whole to a person without other pasture land, and require a performance contract with the State before a corrected title is issued. An investor cannot therefore assemble a large ranch there.

Animal health: notification, isolation, quarantine and stamping-out

Infectious animal diseases are classified as notifiable, zoonotic, epizootic and transboundary, the list and control measures to be set by Order (Article 30). A farmer whose animal is sick or suspected of infection must immediately notify the Authority or the nearest veterinary doctor, or the local administration, which informs the Authority; a veterinary doctor who learns of a case reports it (Article 31). The Authority conducts surveillance (Article 32) and, on suspicion, designates provisional suspected infected, protection and disease-free zones along administrative boundaries (Article 33). The Minister confirms and declares an outbreak on the Authority's report and announces control measures (Article 34), and may declare a quarantine area (Article 37). The owner remains responsible for caring for isolated or quarantined animals (Article 39), must vaccinate according to the schedule the Authority publishes (Article 36), and must apply biosecurity measures at the farm that an Order will prescribe (Article 44). Premises, vehicles and equipment are disinfected and manure and feed waste disposed of after an outbreak (Article 43), and carcasses of animals that died of an infectious disease are buried after destruction or incinerated (Article 42); exhuming a carcass is an offence punishable by a fine of RWF 500,000 to RWF 1,000,000 and six months to one year's imprisonment, or more if a person is harmed (Article 63).

Stamping-out, the killing of infected animals in the public interest, is decided by the Authority according to the disease, or by the Minister during an epizootic crisis, after the Authority and local administration explain the reasons to the owner (Articles 40 and 41). The Law does not provide for compensation of the owner, and it contains no transitional provision preserving arrangements under the repealed laws; an investor in a large herd or flock should therefore look to livestock insurance and to contractual allocation of disease risk. The Livestock Development Strategy lists the diseases most often met: East Coast fever, foot-and-mouth disease, lumpy skin disease, brucellosis and mastitis in cattle, African swine fever and swine erysipelas in pigs, Newcastle disease, Gumboro and salmonellosis in poultry, and peste des petits ruminants in goats and sheep; diagnostic services come from the Rubirizi National Veterinary Laboratory in Kigali and four satellite laboratories in Nyagatare, Musanze, Rubavu and Huye.

Imports are tightly controlled. Importing or moving in transit a live animal requires the Authority's authorisation and inspection (Article 55(1) and (3)). The Authority places every imported animal in isolation at a designated facility for a monitoring period, at the owner's cost; if the animal is free of infectious disease the Authority issues a certificate ending isolation, and if it is infected the Authority decides under the Law (Article 35). Imports of animal products need a permit from the animal products inspection authority, which inspects them on arrival (Article 55(2) and (4)); RICA's charter lists import permits for agricultural goods as free and issued in three days, and a quality inspection fee of 0.2% of cost and freight at clearance. Within Rwanda, every movement and transport of an animal requires a certificate from the Authority or a person it authorises (Article 53), and trade in animals takes place at designated locations meeting welfare requirements, at premises certified by the Authority (Articles 56 and 57).

Veterinary services, veterinary drugs and animal feed

Treatment of animals is reserved to veterinary doctors, meaning veterinarians registered and licensed by the Rwanda Council of Veterinary Doctors, established by Law N° 56/2013 of 09/08/2013, and approved by the Authority (Articles 2(q) and 45). Veterinary services are provided by the Authority or by persons holding its certificate (Article 46). A drug may be prescribed only by a veterinary doctor, bought only from a veterinary drug dealer approved by the authority regulating veterinary drugs and used as prescribed (Article 47); the veterinary doctor records each treatment in the farm's animal health record (Article 49). Every veterinary drug has a withdrawal period, and products of a treated animal may not be sold, supplied or used before it expires (Article 50). For a dairy, poultry or pig farm these rules mean employing or contracting a registered veterinary doctor, keeping treatment records and holding back milk, eggs or animals for slaughter during withdrawal periods.

Rwanda FDA, under Law N° 003/2018 of 09/02/2018 and Law N° 47/2012 of 14/01/2013 relating to the regulation and inspection of food and pharmaceutical products, grants marketing authorisation for veterinary medicines, veterinary biological products and veterinary medical devices after evaluating their quality, safety and efficacy, keeps the register of authorised products and publishes the list of prohibited substances. An importer or manufacturer of veterinary medicines or vaccines therefore registers each product with Rwanda FDA and holds the relevant premises and import authorisations; Rwanda FDA has published guidelines for the registration of veterinary immunological products.

Animal feed must be balanced and suited to the animal, under feed standards the Authority sets by guidelines (Article 21), and must be processed and marketed in compliance with quality standards and without substances that pose a risk to animal or human health (Article 22). Processing or marketing feed requires a licence from the authority in charge of feed quality inspection (Article 23). RICA registers feed factories, stores and selling points and regulates feed imports, and the Livestock Development Strategy lists the applicable standards, including RS EAS 90:2019 on compounded poultry feeds, RS 99:2017 on compounded poultry feed specification and RS 98:2015, the code of practice for feed production, processing, storage and distribution. Feed cost is the main driver of poultry, pig and fish farm economics, so feed mill investments are often paired with integrated farms. How a feed mill or processing plant is licensed as a food or feed business is covered in Agro-processing, food safety, contract farming and exports.

Dairy: milk collection, transport and sale

Dairy is Rwanda's largest livestock value chain, built on the Girinka (one cow per family) programme, improved breeds and a network of milk collection centres. The detailed rules are in Ministerial Order N° 001/11.30 of 10/02/2016 regulating the collection, transportation and selling of milk, published in the Official Gazette n° 07 of 15/02/2016. It was made under Articles 151 and 152 of Law n° 54/2008, which Law N° 042/2026 repealed, so its continuing force depends on the unresolved transitional question discussed above; RICA still lists it among the instruments it applies. Milk intended for sale must be collected at a milk collection centre (MCC) or a processing plant and tested there before sale (Articles 3 and 6). An MCC must have tiled, drained floors, walls tiled to 2 metres, screened ventilation, a sound ceiling and roof, waste disposal, clean water, electricity or a generator, a security fence, a milk laboratory and a cooling room, road access and a location at least 200 metres from any unsanitary area (Article 4), and must have an alcoholmeter, lactodensimeter, thermometer and test kits for antibiotic residues and mastitis (Article 5), operated by a trained technician (Article 7).

Milk is transported in closed stainless steel cans or a cooling tank that keeps it at no more than 4°C (Article 8), in a clean vehicle carrying nothing but milk (Article 11), and for no more than two hours unless the vehicle is refrigerated (Article 12). Anyone transporting milk from an MCC for sale needs a milk transportation permit from the livestock products inspection authority, issued within 15 working days (Articles 9 and 10), and a certificate of origin from the MCC showing its identity, the transporter, the destination, quantity and test results (Article 13). Selling at MCC level needs a licence from that authority, while milk kiosks are licensed by the Sector (Article 14). Milk for sale must have a density of 1.026 to 1.032 at 20°C, a pH of 6.60 to 6.80 and, where tested, at least 3.25% fat and 8.5% solids-not-fat (Article 15). Inspectors may issue warning notices and temporarily suspend a non-compliant operator, reporting within 48 hours (Articles 18 to 20).

RICA's customer service charter lists registration of MCCs and milk aggregation points as free and completed in 14 working days, on proof of business registration, compliance with location requirements and the District physical plan, staff free of contagious diseases and premises meeting Article 4 of the Order. RICA has also distributed rapid test kits for antibiotic residues and aflatoxin to dairy operators. A processor additionally needs Rwanda FDA food business authorisation and product registration (Agro-processing, food safety, contract farming and exports). Processed milk other than powdered milk is VAT-exempt; whether a particular product such as yoghurt or cheese falls within the exemption should be confirmed with the Rwanda Revenue Authority.

Meat, slaughterhouses, poultry and pigs

Unprocessed meat businesses are licensed by RICA under Regulation N° DGO/REG/003 of 25/04/2022 governing meat businesses, made under the RICA law, the competition and consumer protection law and Law n° 54/2008. Every meat business operator except meat transporters must hold an operational licence, and slaughter facilities and meat wholesale and retail shops must hold premises registration certificates (Articles 5 and 6). Applications include tax and social security clearance and, for slaughterhouses, the qualifications and contracts of meat inspectors registered with RICA and the workers' medical certificates (Article 7); RICA decides within 30 calendar days (Article 8). A slaughterhouse licence or certificate is valid for two years and a retail or carrier licence for one year (Article 10); the licence is not transferable, and transfer of a registration certificate needs RICA's approval (Article 12). Slaughterhouses are fixed (large, medium, small or on-farm, by daily capacity in cattle, small ruminants, poultry and pigs) or mobile (Article 18), and anyone intending to build a fixed slaughterhouse must obtain a construction authorisation before work starts, on an architectural design, an environmental impact assessment certificate, the land document and confirmation that the site complies with the physical master plan (Article 20). Only meat inspected and stamped at a registered slaughterhouse may be sold for human consumption, a RICA-authorised meat inspector must check animals before slaughter and meat after it, and down, diseased, dying or dead animals may not be slaughtered.

Poultry and pig farming has no separate licensing regime: a farm registers under Law N° 042/2026, applies biosecurity, uses approved drugs and licensed feed, moves animals with certificates and sells through certified premises. The Livestock Development Strategy describes a commercial poultry sector still at an early stage, constrained by the cost of day-old chicks and feed, housing standards and weak enforcement of regulations, with investment in feed manufacturing and integrated layer and broiler units. Imports of day-old chicks and breeding pigs require the Authority's authorisation and isolation under Articles 35 and 55, and parent stock for poultry is animal genetic material, whose import needs a permit under Articles 25 and 27. African swine fever and Newcastle disease make biosecurity the decisive operational risk, particularly because stamping-out carries no statutory compensation. Read literally, Article 2(30)(b) of the Investment Code treats livestock production as a large-scale agricultural operation at 5,000 chickens and 500 other animals, so a poultry-only farm or a pig-only unit should confirm with RDB whether it qualifies.

Fisheries and aquaculture

Aquaculture is carried out in public or private waters under procedures set by Order (Article 13), and anyone intending to farm fish needs the Authority's authorisation (Article 14); stocking or restocking aquatic organisms, whether local or imported, needs a separate authorisation (Article 15). Fish farmers must not harm other aquatic organisms in public waters (Article 17). The most significant restriction is Article 16: importing new farmed aquatic species is permitted only for research and requires a permit, as does stocking them for research, while importing ornamental species needs its own permit. A commercial farm must therefore work with species already farmed in Rwanda, of which Nile tilapia is the staple according to the National Aquaculture Strategy, and source fingerlings accordingly.

Capture fishing is classified as commercial, research, recreational or tourism fishing, each needing authorisation under an Order (Article 59), and must not disrupt the aquatic environment (Article 58). Fishing with pollutants, explosives, magnetic or electric methods is an offence punishable by a fine of RWF 7,000,000 to RWF 10,000,000 and 15 months to two years' imprisonment, or either penalty (Article 64). Fishery products must be processed, transported, stored and marketed under hygiene and quality standards (Article 60), and premises storing, processing or selling them need a certificate from the fishery products inspection authority (Article 61).

The National Aquaculture Strategy 2023-2035 records that farmed output rose from about 500 tonnes in 2012 to about 4,900 tonnes in 2021, by which time cages produced 55% and ponds 45%, with cage farming centred on Lakes Kivu and Muhazi; Lake Kivu covers about 2,700 km² and is deep and suitable for cages. The Strategy identifies three barriers: limited aquaculture skills, cool high-altitude water that is sub-optimal for tilapia, and shortages of quality fingerlings and competitively priced feed, much of which is imported. It expects large cage farms to supply most growth, with local feed mills and commercial hatcheries replacing imports over time, and calls for spatial planning and environmental management of cage sites. An investor in cage farming should plan for the Authority's aquaculture and stocking authorisations, water and environmental approvals (FAQ 89), the site's position in lake zoning plans as they develop, and the feed and fingerling supply chain.

Beekeeping and insect farming

Beekeeping, defined as rearing bees to obtain their products and covering the installation of hives, harvesting and the processing and marketing of bee products, requires an authorisation from the Authority on requirements to be set by Order (Article 11). The keeping of other insects for their benefits to humans or animals also needs authorisation (Article 12), which brings insect protein projects, such as black soldier fly larvae for feed, within the licensing regime; queen-bee rearing and commercial insect parent stock are genetic improvement methods under Article 25. PSTA5 records a honey baseline of 7,250 tonnes with a target of 17,035 tonnes by 2028/29 and plans to promote commercial apiary farms. Bee products are animal products under Article 2(e), so their transport, trade premises and export follow the animal products rules and, for processed honey, Rwanda FDA's food rules.