FAO’s efforts continue to improve nutrition in Rural Rwanda
Towards increasing consumption of nutritious foods in Rutsiro district
5 August 2016, Kigali - According to Rwanda’s Demographic Health Survey (DHS) of 2015 and EICV4 conducted by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), 38% of Rwandan children are stunted due to chronic malnutrition.
In April 2015,the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rwanda launched a joint One UN nutrition project “Accelerating stunting reduction amongst under-two children in Rwanda” in Nyirabirasi and Mukura sectors of Rutsiro district, West Rwanda, to fight malnutrition and accelerate the reduction of stunting.
Through FAO’s project component, 2,153 chickens, 983 pigs, 983 dairy goats, basic veterinary drugs, and a variety of agri-inputs have been distributed to households in the sectors. Using the Farmer Field and Life School (FFLS) training approach, beneficiaries build their capacity in small livestock rearing, kitchen garden construction, savings and loan schemes, and nutritious cooking.
Nyiransengimana Alvera is a mother of three children and a beneficiary in Nyirabirasi sector. Before the project, her family was very poor and her children suffered from nutritional deficiencies. She was placed in the first category of UBUDEHE, Rwanda’s socio-economic and livelihood classification programme. As an UBUDEHE category 1 household, or a household in abject poverty, she is eligible for support from the government.
Under FAO’s project component she received a dairy goat, a pig, and the training and inputs needed to build a kitchen garden. Through this garden she and her family now have access to fresh, nutritious vegetables such as cabbages, onions, carrots, Amaranth, spinach, mushrooms, and eggplant every day, which protects her family from diseases.
Once a month her FFLS group meets at one of their houses and contributes a variety of foods to prepare a balanced, healthy meal including iron-fortified beans, maize flour, cassava flour, Amaranth, carrots, irish and sweet potatoes, eggs, onions, mushrooms, and rice.
Reflecting on her her life prior to FAO support, Nyiransengimana said: “Before I received the animals and seedlings for my vegetable garden, my children would fall sick often. Now I prepare a balanced diet of vegetables, potatoes, beans, and ground nuts. I get manure from the animals to apply to my garden and get increased productivity. Life is now good.”
Nyiransengimana now has something to look forward to. She is able to take her children to school and she contributes to the community-based savings group in her area established through FAO’s assistance. She says the future of her family is bright, I have a starting point all thanks to FAO-Rwanda.
She also envisions owning a business someday. By selling the offspring of the small livestock (her pigs and goat have reproduced) she received from FAO, she will be able to get the necessary capital.
“I will sell the piglets and develop my family. FAO trained us how to save. Also with the money I will get from selling the offspring, I intend to renovate the house. The hygiene and sanitation of my children and household improved as now I feel more responsible. I thank FAO for increasing our hope of life” she said.
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