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10 Things You Didn’t Know About Poverty in Rwanda

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Poverty in Rwanda
Rwanda has made vast improvements in reducing poverty in the past decade. Nevertheless, the majority of their population lives below the poverty line. Discussed below are the leading and somewhat surprising facts about poverty in Rwanda.

 

Top 10 Facts About Poverty in Rwanda

 

The Bad News

1.  57% of Rwandans live below the poverty line and 37% live in extreme poverty.

2. Rwanda is the most densely packed country in Africa. With an annual population growth rate of around 3%, the population will have an additional 12 million people by 2015.

3. The 1994 genocide, which killed about 1 million people, changed the demographic structure of the country. Women now account for 54% of the population, and women and orphans were left as the heads of many households.

4. 44% of Rwandan children suffer from stunting. This means that they are unable to grow to their full potential because of a lack of adequate nutrition.

5. Agriculture employs 80% of the labor force, but only accounts for a third of the country’s GDP. Nearly half of Rwandan agricultural households experience food insecurity.

 

…The Good News

6. At least 1 million Rwandans have been lifted out of poverty in the last five years. This has been attributed to an increase in agricultural incomes and income transfers.

7.  Between 2006-2011, Rwanda posted an average annual growth of real GDP of 8.4%. This was driven mainly by higher productivity in the agricultural and industrial sectors.

8. Since 2005 the mortality rate of children under 5 has been halved from 152 to 76 deaths per thousand.

9.  Immediately following the genocide, 100 percent of the government budget came from foreign aid. In 2011, the figure had fallen to 40%.

10. Participation in secondary schooling has doubled since 2006, and primary education has far exceeded the set target.

Rwanda still has a long way to go, but the recent successes provide hope for the 10 million people living within its borders. A combination of government programs, foreign aid, and a continued focus on agricultural production promises to bring more and more people out of poverty in Rwanda every day.

– Kathryn Cassibry

Sources: World Bank, Rural Poverty, Feed the Future, UNDP
Photo: The Telegraph

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USAID Initiative Celebrates a Year of Progress

USAID_ Food_Security_opt
Just over a year ago, President Obama announced the launch of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, a joint commitment by the G8 nations, African countries and private sector partners. This week, a reflection over the last year celebrated the remarkable progress that has been made by the alliance in farming communities in Africa.

The initiative, launched on the eve of the G8 summit last in 2012, aims to lift 50 million people out of poverty by 2022 by implanting inclusive and sustained agricultural growth. In a speech last week, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said, “In one year, the New Alliance has grown into a $3.75 billion public-private partnership that embodies the principles of Grow Africa, an African-owned and led platform for catalyzing reform and mobilizing private investment.”

Over the last year, the alliance has provided support to six African countries in order for them to facilitate trade, stimulate new markets, and create new jobs. Techniques such as expanding seed production and distribution, and developing infrastructure, have helped spur agricultural growth, and have aided smallholder farmers with increased access to commercial markets. In 2013 alone, three new programs have been launched; the Agricultural Fast Track Fund, the Open Data for Agriculture, and a Technology Platform that will assess the availability of improved agricultural technologies for farmers in developing countries.

Food security and nutrition is vital in these farming communities; as Administrator Shah remarked in her speech, “long-tern food security is defined not only crop yields and vibrant markets, but also by the health of a child and the resilience of her community.” Although there are still many issues facing farmers in African countries, the New Alliance remains positive about the future. “By introducing innovation across the entire continuum from farm to market to table,” Shah said, “we have the opportunity to tackle extreme poverty by the roots and shape a world with far more partners in trade than recipients in aid.”

– Chloe Isacke

Source: USAID,Feed the Future
Photo: IFAD