Government has stepped up efforts to ensure food security in different parts of the country that were hit by prolonged drought, with the most hit being districts in the Eastern Province.

The drought has also affected livestock in the same province, where some of the areas have not seen rain since September last year. 

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), it is the first time such a drought has occurred in the country in the last 60 years.

An assessment conducted by the ministry in the Eastern Province revealed that the drought extended into 2016B in seven sectors of Kayonza District, four sectors of Nyagatare District and one sector of Kirehe District; where affected crops are on 16,119 ha in Kayonza, 6,619 ha in Nyagatare and 750 ha in Kirehe.

MINAGRI estimates that 47,306 households have been affected.

In response to the situation, MINAGRI has taken measures to supply food to the most affected families using the National Strategic Grain Reserves. 

Through the arrangement, over 1,200 metric tonnes (MT) of maize and some 800 MTs of beans were distributed to 18,308 affected households.

According to the ministry, foodstuff was given to the households through the food for work arrangement in a bid to avoid the creation of a dependence mindset.

Regarding livestock, 28 makeshift dams were set up in Nyagatare and Kayonza to facilitate the water supply to the animals, a move, which, along with other interventions managed to salvage 22,000 heads of cattle in the area.

Speaking during a news conference yesterday, Agriculture minister Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana said food shortage has become a global concern that needs urgent attention from various players.

She said that about 50 million people in Africa are currently experiencing food shortage.

"We made an assessment of needed dams and we decided to set up 11 dams of which five are in Kayonza and six in Nyagatare,” she said adding that sometimes water is pumped from Akagera River into farms for livestock.

The World Bank’s "Shock Waves, Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty” report, published in 2016, stated that climate change could force more than 100 million people into extreme poverty by 2030 worldwide, of whom more than 43 million are from Africa.

The report called for good, climate-informed development to reduce the impacts of climate change on the poor, and targeted climate resilience measures, such as the introduction of heat-resistant crops and disaster preparedness systems.

Long-term strategies

The minister noted that farmers should embrace zero grazing system.

She said that under the Rwanda Agriculture Board, there are research trials to produce crop varieties that give yield at relatively a short time compared to the already existing ones as they can help cope with drought.

Embracing irrigation

Minister Mukeshimana said each year;,the government, through its extensive irrigation project, adds over 3,000 hectares of irrigated land and that, currently, 40,000 hectares are being irrigated.

But, she noted that the progress is not at the intended pace as irrigation is almost entirely being carried out by the government, and called on the private sector to also play its role.

She said, the small scale irrigation scheme subsidy—whereby the government covers 50 per cent of the cost of irrigation facilities—that was introduced about two years ago, should be embraced by the private sector and farmers to achieve irrigation target and mitigate climate change effects on crops.

The government plans to irrigate some 100,000 hectares of arable land by 2018.

Meanwhile, Innocent Musabyimana, the Permanent Secretary at MINAGRI, said that the government is committed to intervene to ensure that those people affected by drought get food so that no Rwandan flees the country or dies from hunger.

"The National Strategic Reserves will come in handy. We are ready as a country to offer support to the affected families,” he said.

Minister Mukeshimana said the reserve has currently about 7,000 tonnes of maize and 2,000 tonnes of beans.

She said Rwf2.9 billion has been put aside to help respond to food shortages in the country in the next fiscal year.

She noted that there are 1000 tonnes that they have booked in EAX and another 1,500 tonnes in RGCC in a bid to boost the National reserve.

She noted that the culture of food reserve should be embraced from the village level to address possible food insecurity, instead of people waiting for interventions only from the national reserve in Kigali.

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