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Rebuilding a nation after catastrophe in Rwanda
Since the beginning of the crisis in 1994, several FAO/WFP crop and food supply assessment missions have visited Rwanda. These missions assessed food supply difficulties, evaluated the food and nutritional status of the population and estimated seasonal requirements for cereal imports, including food aid. In addition to the joint FAO/WFP missions, FAO's Special Relief Operations Service fielded several missions to assess the most urgent needs for the agricultural sector. The most recent crop and food supply assessment mission, in June 1997, also undertook the assessment of agricultural input requirements. All the missions took into account the mass movements of Rwandan refugees to and from neighbouring countries and their prospects and needs. Following initial assessment by FAO in 1994 of requirements for the agricultural sector and a series of UN consolidated appeals, FAO obtained funds to start an emergency operation to supply desperately needed agricultural inputs to the rural populations affected by the crisis. The operation has three main components:
In the programme's first year of activity, more than 406 000 households in 95 percent of the country benefited. The value of agricultural production resulting from the distribution of seeds and tools was calculated to be about US$11 million. The emergency operation has grown into a large-scale agricultural relief programme including measures for rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as immediate relief. Donors funding the programme have included the World Bank, IFAD, the EC, Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as FAO through its Technical Cooperation Programme and a special mission mounted by the Director-General in December 1996.
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Rwanda was engulfed by a
holocaust in 1994 which resulted in the death of
800 000 people, the flight of more than 2 million into
neighbouring countries and the displacement of 380 000
in camps within the country. The conflict threatened to lead
to widespread famine.