This thesis analyses farmers’ experiences, reactions and resistance to settlement and agricultural reforms in post-genocide Rwanda. It attempts to understand the phenomenon of resistance to reforms in a context of reconstruction after genocide and violent conflicts. The most fascinating aspect which motivated this study was that the recipients of reform seemed reluctant to implement the reforms, despite the fact that the large-scale agricultural and settlement reforms introduced by the post-genocide government were designed to curb poverty through empowering Rwandans in general and to improve the living conditions of the very poor in particular as well as to prevent recurrent violent conflicts. Some studies link this reluctance and resistance to the ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), labelling it an authoritarian regime which imposes reforms on the people (see Ansoms, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010; 2013; Huggins, 2009; Thomson, 2009, 2011; Newbury, 2011). Other scholars, however, have focused on the achievements of the post-genocide government. These include, for instance, Phil Clark (2014), Nicola Palmer (2014) and Bert Ingelaere (2014) to mention but a few.