In consideration of the chronic poverty of farmers in Rwanda as well as in other developing countries where self-sufficient agriculture is practiced, this study examines what the well studied theory of specialization and trade, if implemented, could bring to Rwandan farmers in terms of production and profits. / To attain this objective, a spatial optimization model with linear programming was built and used to maximize the potential production and net returns which were compared to those from the traditional system. The model was built in a way that it also shows the pattern of trade and quantities traded. / The results show that a regional specialization system would allow, on the national level, more production, higher net returns, and more trade than the traditional system (self-sufficient agriculture) as expected according to the theory of specialization and trade. Nevertheless, the net return in some regions decreases in the new system, which necessitates a compensation plan for those regions. / However, it has to be noted that despite these gains, the adoption of the new plans requires a consideration of many other factors that are not covered in this study. Of those factors, the most obvious are the need to improve the transportation and marketing infrastructure, changing farmers' attitudes and objectives towards commercial agriculture, and securing equity, security, and sustainability in the system.

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