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The Continued Fight Against Malnutrition in Rwanda

Malnutrition in Rwanda

In July, the Rwanda Biomedical Center and UNICEF ran a health awareness campaign in Rwamagana, which revolved around the continued fight against malnutrition in Rwanda.

Rwanda has made impressive developmental progress since the tragedy in 1994. According to the Ministry of Health, the mortality rate for children under 5 has declined more than 60 percent since the 1990s.

Despite this progress, the stunting of children under 5 remains at 38 percent, due to chronic malnutrition, nutritional imbalance and food insecurity. The recent campaign in Rwamagana reported that this number could be cut in half, as long as parents personally ensured that their children were eating the recommended diet.

Stunting is particularly prevalent in rural areas, for these regions are typically the most impoverished and the least educated – both critical influences on the likelihood of malnutrition.

Stunting hinders physical and psychological growth, permanently affecting a child’s long-term development and capacity. Given these dire consequences, the government has scaled up community health outreach, mobilizing door-to-door nutrition education in the most remote areas.

Malnutrition doesn’t usually take lives directly, instead increasing childhood susceptibility to death from diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhea and HIV. Particularly, malnutrition decreases the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy, making this chronic condition a large roadblock in the management of the HIV pandemic in Rwanda.

In rural areas, the availability of nutritious food is scarce, especially during agricultural lean periods. The typical diet of cereals and tubers is completely nutritionally imbalanced, leading to deficiencies in protein, iron, vitamin A and iodine.

The government has been working ceaselessly to reduce malnutrition in Rwanda through community organization, mass media initiatives and investment in a National Nutrition Policy. This policy aims to promote sectoral collaboration, simultaneously reducing poverty through the investment in human health.

The Rwamagana campaign targeted lifestyle changes as essential components of the fight against chronic malnutrition. These grim statistics could be transformed through increased parental responsibility, the promotion of alternative sources of income during agricultural setbacks and the assistance of smallholder farmers.

Food insecurity is a primary element of malnutrition, so linking small farmers to their markets is essential. WFP’s Purchase for Progress does just this, providing strength, support and security to rural Rwandan economies.

The WFP and the government additionally fight malnutrition in Rwanda through grassroots community involvement programs, including home grown school feeding programs, monthly childhood growth monitoring and baby-friendly hospital initiatives to promote breastfeeding.

The government of Rwanda understands that the reduction of malnutrition is a complex feat; requiring support from many sectors, such as health, education, commerce and agriculture. Ensuring equal access to nutritional education and treatment is crucial to countrywide hunger alleviation.

Chronic malnutrition in Rwanda interferes with many of the Millennium Development Goals, as it sustains poverty, obstructs educational progress and facilitates the detrimental impact of preventable diseases. With continued focus and diligence, Rwanda can continue to make progress in the promotion of its children’s health.

– Larkin Smith

Photo: Flickr

Rwanda’s New Town Library Goes Digital with WorldReader

Town Library
Rwinkwavu, a community of 30,000 people in Rwanda, is significantly economically disadvantaged. The town is mostly made up of farmers and lacks basic modern resources such as running water and power.

Despite these conditions, the non-profit Ready for Reading built a town library in 2012 that Worldreader, a Barcelona-based charity, then filled with e-readers, smartphones, Wi-Fi and a broad range of digital books for locals to explore.

Books not only provide entertainment, but their educational value is paramount. This access to knowledge helps to improve language skills and literacy while explaining new and different information in an enjoyable way. More specifically, reading has helped adults in Rwinkwavu master various skills including applying for new jobs, opening bank accounts and even running their own businesses.

Accessing knowledge through reading has also helped children develop interests in topics they most likely would not have explored otherwise. Each night, people of all ages now gather at Rwinkwavu’s town library to read after long days of laboring in their fields. As they continue to learn new information, new doors continue to open for them.

More than one in three adults in sub-Saharan Africa, a total of 182 million, are unable to read and write. In Rwanda, 48 million of the youths are illiterate. The population’s lack of education has led to 44 percent of people living below the international poverty line of $1.25 per day. However, new town libraries like the one in Rwinkwavu could potentially change the status quo.

Worldreader has already used its digital books to fill multiple schools and libraries across 14 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa, helping to educate over 100,000 children and adults. The charity hopes to continue its expansion, with plans to fill another two libraries by the end of the year.

“There is massive inequality in the world. Africa needs education at scale to start closing the gaps,” said Worldreader Co-Founder Colin McElwee.

– Alice Gottesman

Photo: Worldreader

Rulindo Challenge to Improve Water Quality in Rwanda District

Rulindo ChallengeThe Rulindo Challenge is an initiative developed in 2010 by the partnership of the non-governmental organization (NGO) Water For People and the Rwandan government. The Challenge acts as a permanent solution to provide full water access to the northern, rural Rwandan province of Rulindo by 2018.

Approximately 285,000 people reside in the Rulindo District. The terrain of the area is mostly hills and valleys, so springs and groundwater make up the main sources of water in Rulindo.

According to a report by Water For People, prior to the Rulindo Challenge the area lacked proper standards in terms of the water quality in Rwanda. Only 29% of the population had access to safe drinking water and just six percent of water systems were likely to provide sustainable water service.

Goals of the Rulindo Challenge

Rulindo’s 2016 goals include increasing the levels of water access by 11% through sustainable water infrastructure, such as installing eight piped water systems in five areas and water tanks in 13 schools. A new health care facility was also constructed as a result of the goals.

The Rulindo Challenge also seeks to increase the newly established water infrastructure’s sustainability to 100% at the end of 2016, building the technical and financial capacity needed for two private operators and the district water board members and staff. To implement these goals, the progressive partnership has developed a systematic approach in order to meet district-wide demands for clean water and sanitation. The joint partners set out to achieve sustainability challenges to meet current local capacity and strength, leveraging locally available resources and striving to serve as a model for replication.

What Has it Already Accomplished?

According to a report by Water For People, “community water service has increased 20 percentage points to 49 percent in the district as a result of these activities.” The water and sanitation at schools and clinics also increased drastically to 67% in the Rulindo District.

Currently, nearly 118,000 community water beneficiaries, 114 connections at 68 public institution water systems and over 51,500 public water beneficiaries have been created since the beginning of the Rulindo Challenge to improve water quality in Rwanda.

The initiative resulted in improved access to water supply for 60,000 people. In addition, the quality of the water mechanisms is expected to last well into the future. Sustainability measures in 2012 recorded just six percent prior to the Rulindo Challenge.

The increase in sustainability to 89% resulted in an 83-point percentage overall improvement. Due to the increased sustainability in the district, the implementation of the strategies and approaches shows that communities and public institutions will have safe, reliable access to drinking water for many years to come.

When the Rulindo Challenge concludes in 2018, the partners will implement a thorough exit strategy to ensure that the maintenance and protection of the water resources remain intact. In addition, the partners will implement a plan for climate change resilience to promote sustainability and access to adequate water sources for generations to come.

– Haylee Gardner

Photo: Flickr

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5 Facts about Poverty in Rwanda

Poverty in Rwanda Facts
Over the past two decades, Rwanda has faced an uphill battle on the road to development post-genocide. Despite troubling circumstances and more than its share of challenges, the country is quickly becoming a global development and poverty reduction success story. Below are five facts about poverty in Rwanda.

Rwanda Poverty Facts

  1.  According to the World Bank’s most recent estimates, 44.9 percent of Rwanda’s population currently lives below the poverty line. Down from 56.7 percent in 2005, more than one million people have been lifted out of poverty in just five years thanks to the government’s commitment to eradicating poverty in Rwanda and becoming a middle-income country.
  2. In the past decade, mortality rates for children under five years old have been more than halved. Down from 182 deaths per 1,000 children in 2000 to 55 per 1,000 in 2012.
  3. As a key marker of successful poverty reduction efforts, life expectancy in Rwanda has improved dramatically. As of 1993, the average life expectancy was just 27 years. By 2014 that number had more than doubled to 64 years. Better living conditions and improved health care are largely to thank for these impressive improvements.
  4. After experiencing a dip in annual GDP growth rates after the Great Recession, the Rwandan economy has quickly rebounded. The country is projected to enjoy growth rates of more than six percent for the next several years. As this growth begins to be picked up by even the lowest income sectors of the country, poverty in Rwanda is expected to be dramatically reduced in the coming years.
  5. The Rwandan government has made achieving middle-income status a top priority by introducing Vision 2020, an initiative that aims to move the country away from its primarily agricultural-based economy to a more progressive, diversified economy with the ability to drastically reduce poverty in Rwanda. With 75 percent of the 650,000 new workers added to the work force between 2005 and 2010, the country is well on its way to achieving its goal.

As shown through these facts about poverty in Rwanda, the country still has a long way to go on the road to development, yet over the past decade, its progress has been unprecedentedly successful. With continued support and development assistance poverty in Rwanda may one day be a distant memory.

– Sara Christensen

Photo: Flickr

New Climate Data to Bolster Rwandan Agriculture

Rwandan agriculture

Of the many tragic legacies that the civil war in Rwanda have had for the country, the effect of the conflict on Rwandan agriculture has developed in unexpected ways. A report from phys.org showed that during the civil war, historical climate data were significantly compromised. As a result, farmers have faced increased risk of crop failures due to droughts, flooding, and other damaging weather patterns.

The Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project aims to bolster Rwandan agriculture by filling in gaps in Rwanda’s climate data records and disseminating meteorological data to farmers, according to a report from the Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS).

The report goes on to explain that this project will expand upon elements of the Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) approach, which is already being implemented in eight African countries. ENACTS connects satellite data with on-the-ground station observation from Rwanda’s National Meteorological Agency (Meteo-Rwanda), and provides to farmers the information gathered therefrom via “maprooms.” These maprooms are publicly accessible websites providing dynamically updated information on weather patterns such as temperature and rainfall, according to the Meteo-Rwanda website.

Furthermore, the project builds upon the Participatory Integrated Climate Services (PICSA) approach, which entails integrating NGOs and agricultural extension staff with local farming communities. With easy access to climate data, Meteo-Rwanda’s maprooms will expedite this process by giving intermediaries more accurate and timely information about the ares where they will need to function.

According to the CCAFS, the project aims to provide climate data to one million farmers.

Given the importance of Rwandan agriculture in the local economy, this project represents an important step forward in repairing the damage of the civil war. According to phys.org, agriculture accounts for one third of Rwanda’s GDP, and eight out of 10 Rwandans are employed in agriculture. Thus, softening the impact of flooding and drought will provide significant economic benefits the country.

– Peter Della-Rocca

Photo: Flickr

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Using Cell Phones to Measure Poverty in Developing Countries

Poverty_in_Developing_Countries
A new study published by the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley reports that mobile cell phone information can be used to measure levels of wealth and poverty in developing countries.

Historically, poverty data in developing countries has been difficult to measure because information is captured through door-to-door surveys.

“[Cell phones] could be a useful policy instrument to estimate the geographic distribution of poverty and wealth,” said Joshua Blumenstock, one of the study’s authors, in a NY Times interview.

Blumenstock and his colleagues used anonymous data from 1.5 million subscribers of Rwanda’s largest mobile phone network. The team analyzed billions of interactions which included the time and length of phone calls as well as text messages. Cellphone towers helped them get a rough idea of geographic location.

During the study, the researchers also interviewed 850 cell phone owners. The respondents were asked about their housing situations, the assets they had access to and other indicators of wealth or poverty.

The researchers used this information to create an algorithm that predicts a person’s wealth based on their cellphone usage. Using this model, the team was able to answer more specific questions including whether a house has electricity.

Notably, the resulting wealth and poverty maps closely mirrored the findings of the Rwandan government’s door-to-door surveys.

The researchers are trying to conduct similar work in Afghanistan because certain areas are dangerous or too difficult to access and door-to-door surveys are not possible.

“We do not think this method is the be-all or end-all, but in the absence of good information, this is better than nothing,” said Blumenstock. However, the researchers’ approach could lead to new ways to quickly analyze poverty at a fraction of the cost of other methods.

– Jordan Connell

Sources: PC Tech Magazine, The New York Times
Photo: Flickr

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All About Renewable Energy in Rwanda

Renewable Energy to Light Up Rwanda
East Africa’s first solar power plant in Rwanda has created 350 local jobs and powers more than 15,000 homes. This use of renewable energy means that Rwanda is on track to achieve its goal of providing half of its population with electricity by 2017.

The $23.7 million project took only a year to complete. The Rwandan government partnered with Gigawatt Global, Norfund and Scatec Solar; all of whom were aided by the president’s Power Africa initiative.

The 17-hectare solar plant is compromised of 28,360 solar panels which are arranged to mimic the shape of the African continent. The panels are computer controlled and tilt to track the sun throughout the day which improves its efficiency by 20 percent, compared to stationary solar panels.

“The speed with which this project was completed is a tribute to the strength of the Rwandan government’s institutions and their laser-focus on increasing Rwanda’s generation capacity as well as to the nimbleness of our team and partners which spanned eight countries,” Chaim Motzen, managing director and co-founder of Gigawatt Global, said.

The plant is 60 kilometers east of the capital Kigali, on land owned by the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV). The village is home to children who were orphaned before and after Rwanda’s genocide in 1994. The lease provided the village with significant income which was invested in schooling and extracurricular activities.

Gigawatt Global will also be implementing solar energy technology training to students at the Liquidnet High School in ASYV.

Rwanda relies on diesel fuel for electrical power which is expensive and highly polluting. It cripples the country’s economic growth and leaves more than 15 percent of the population without electricity.

The installation of the solar power plant has provided a better renewable energy source that has also increased Rwanda’s electrical capacity by 6 percent. Consequently, economic output, social welfare, employment conditions and standards of living have improved.

“We have plenty of sun. Some living in remote areas where there is no energy. Solar will be the way forward for African countries,” Twaha Twagirimana, the plant supervisor, said.

– Marie Helene Ngom

Sources: The Guardian, Cleantechnica, Gigawatt Global
Photo: Flickr

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Gender Equality in Rwanda Ranks in Top 10

gender_equality_in_Rwanda
When people think of gender equality they often do not associate it with Rwanda. But, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual report, people should.

Gender equality in Rwanda outperformed many expectations, scoring high in the graded categories of economics, health, education and politics. Additionally, the country placed in the top ten for the second year in a row. They even improved their spot by one, coming in at sixth place.

As a continent, Africa has some of the worst performing countries in the world. Numerous African countries scoring in the bottom 20 supplement that fact. Chad, Mali and Guinea are some of the countries that have yet again found themselves in the bottom 20.

Impressively, Rwanda beat out many well-developed countries. They boast better scores than France (15th) Germany (11th) and even the United States (28th).

The country has continued to see success in bridging the gender equality gap. According to WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report, an impressive 88 percent of women in Rwanda hold jobs. Comparatively, the percentage of women in the United States who have jobs is only 66 percent.

While Rwanda’s placement on the index is certainly praiseworthy, the question remains – how did the country outperform 139 others?

Saadia Zahidi, a member of the WEF, explains: “There are quite a few theories for this and certainly one of them is that after the genocide there has been much lower numbers of men who are able and willing to be working. So, that has changed the dynamics.”

The genocide that Zahidi talks about occurred in 1994. It was aimed at the country’s minority group, the Tutsi’s, and claimed the lives of over one million civilians. Many women became widowed as a result.

After the genocide ended, women came together and demanded change. They successfully re-wrote parts of the constitution and ensured that 30 percent of political roles would be held by women. They also called for marriage equality and land ownership rights.

In terms of political opportunities, Rwanda has the highest percentage of women in Parliament, something that remains to be celebrated.

Of course, there is still much that needs to be done in order to continue to eliminate the gap between genders. However, Zahidi remains confident that the divide in gender equality in Rwanda will continue to close.

– Alyson Atondo

Sources: The World Economic Forum 1, Huffington Post, QZ.com, Washington Post, The World Economic Forum 2
Photo: Flickr

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Team Africa Rising: The Opportunity For Unity

Team Africa Rising: The Opportunity For Unity
This month, five Rwandan cyclists from Team Africa Rising are set to compete in the UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia. The international competition is set to take place from Sept. 19 – 27.

Team Africa Rising, formally called Team Rwanda, is comprised of professional cyclists who often serve as the world’s informal ambassadors to Rwanda and other conflict-stricken nations. Team Rwanda was founded in 2006 by American cyclist Jock Boyer in order to spread the sport of cycling and unify countries under its name.

Team Africa Rising is now comprised of over 25 of the best cyclists from Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea. For these athletes, cycling can serve as a form of therapy to deal with their difficult pasts.

The team has also given African athletes the chance to compete at an international level, therefore granting them additional opportunities for sponsorship, equipment and more. One of the cyclists, Nathan Byukusenge, has qualified to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The cyclists have captured attention from the international community, as the subjects of a documentary entitled “Rising From Ashes” and the book “Land of Second Chances.”

Cycling teams provide a common, positive cause for members of the host countries to support. Team Africa Rising’s participation in the world championship provides a collective source of pride and excitement, particularly for the citizens of Rwanda.

According to Kimberly Coats, director of logistics for Team Africa Rising, the team represents unity for the country.

“The team is made up of people from both sides [of the 1994 genocide,]” she was quoted in the Richmond Times Dispatch. “But today we’re all Rwandans and it’s really started to develop this national unity, this national pride. This team is a thing for the country to rally around.”

For the past 21 years, Rwanda has focused on healing itself from the historic genocide and growing together as one Rwandan society. One of the major struggles in developing in the wake of such a mass atrocity has been in providing the international community another way to look at the country.

“You say Rwanda, you think genocide. They want you to say Rwanda (and) think cycling,” Coats said. “It’s going to take time, but it’s definitely there. We do a lot of bike tours, a lot of people come visit the team and the team has been goodwill ambassadors to show the world that Rwanda is a safe place, that the country has reconciled and that there’s peace.”

– Arin Kerstein

Sources: The Guardian, Richmond Times Dispatch, Team Africa Rising, World Bicycle Relief
Photo: Google Images

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Education in Rwanda: Highest Enrollment Rates in Africa

Rwanda EducationRwanda’s elementary school enrollment rate is the highest in Africa. It stands as an example for other countries in the continent as the female enrollment rate of 98 percent has surpassed that of the male enrollment rate of 95 percent in primary school.

The Rwandan elementary educational system has brought the primary completion rate to 72.7 percent in 2012. The completion rate was at 53 percent only four years prior.

There has been an increase in the national budget for education in Rwanda for the 2017-18 year. The budget was 17 percent in 2012 and is projected to rise to 22 percent. This funding will help provide Rwandan students with the opportunity to further their studies.

Rwanda was awarded the Commonwealth Education Good Practice Award in 2012 for its education program. The program is called the Nine Year Basic Education Fast Track Strategies and was designed to provide access to nine years of education for Rwandans. The community-based curriculum emphasizes quality education and community-incorporation.

Classrooms and restrooms have been built in accordance to the program. The program was initiated in 2009 and the success of the program is evident in the increase in enrollment, retention, and completion rates of primary school.

Although Rwanda’s primary school enrollment rates are high, the numbers show that a much smaller percentage of primary school children are continuing on to secondary education. The net enrollment rate for secondary school is 33 percent from 2013. This number does show a slow but steady increase of 3 percent from 2010 when the enrollment rate was at 30 percent.

Rwanda’s prioritization of the education of the youth is shown through the increase in enrollment rates throughout the country. Hopefully, other African countries will be quick to follow Rwanda’s lead.

– Iona Brannon

Sources: Commonwealth, Global Partnership, UNICEF, US Embassy, World Bank
Photo: Living in KiGali