An estimated 120,000 children and mothers from vulnerable families are expected to start enjoying free nutritious foods this festive season once a fortified foods factory starts production, according to officials.

The factory, that is near completion, is located in the Kigali Special Economic Zone in Gasabo District.

It is a joint venture between the Government of Rwanda and Africa Improved Foods, a global foods manufacturer with a local franchise.

It is estimated to cost up to $45 million (about Rwf37 billion), according to Prosper Ndayiragije, the country director of Africa Improved Foods, which is the majority shareholder.

According to the Ministry of Health, the figure for beneficiaries, which was drawn from the national social stratification programme (Ubudehe) is preliminary.

The Ministry of Health and that of Local Government are working together to come up with a conclusive figure, complete with names and address of the prospective beneficiaries.

The fortified food

The Fortified Blended Food (FBF) may be prepared as porridge in the household, according to the Health ministry.

That cereal –based nutritious food product, called ‘Shisha Kibondo,’ has two types; one designed for children and the other for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, Ndayiragije said.

After the Health ministry, together with other partners, rolled out several nationwide campaigns to reduce malnutrition, stunting was reduced from 51 per cent in 2005 to 38 by 2015 as shown by Rwanda Demographic Health Survey 2014/2015 (RDHS, 2014/15).

However, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Jean Pierre Nyemazi, said stunting is still a huge challenge in Rwanda and its prevalence is unacceptable.

He cautioned that, at the current rate, it is less likely that the country will meet the target set for 2018; containing stunting for children under five at less than 18 per cent.

Nyemazi noted that this is the main reason the Government entered into a joint venture with Africa Improved Food (AIF) to manufacture highly nutritious fortified blended food (FBF).

It was agreed that the Ministry of Health represent the Government in the five-year purchase and sale contract, whereby the ministry will buy and distribute Fortified Blended Food to targeted beneficiaries.

"The Government has committed to purchase FBF products and distribute free of charge for all children between six and 24 months from families under Ubudehe category one and pregnant and breastfeeding women (from the same households) up to when a child is seven months for the period of five years,” Nyemazi told The New Times last week.

However, he added, the factory will produce more products that will be available on market at affordable price for other Rwandans who can afford them.

On average, figures from the Ministry of health show that each beneficiary will be consuming around three kilogrammes per month with the exact quantity dependent on the child’s age.

Ndayiragije said they will subsidise the products that will be sold to government to ensure that as many vulnerable Rwandans can get to benefit.

However, he noted that the product will be more affordable than the imported ones which, he said, were out of reach for vulnerable people. "Our intention is to provide affordable, highly nutritious, quality fortified food,” Ndayiragije said, adding that their products will be on the market at the beginning of 2017.

Local supply of raw materials

According to information from the the Ministry of Agriculture (MINAGRI), raw materials needed to make this fortified food include soya and maize which are produced locally, or imported from East Africa.

Skimmed Milk Powder is imported from global market, while Vitamins and minerals are imported mainly from South Africa.

A statement from Africa Improved Food says that the ingredients that the factory in Kigali will be processing will come from 9,000 local small-holder maize and soya farmers, thus providing a stable, sustainable income for them. The new factory will create around 230 direct jobs.

Meanwhile, Ndayiragije noted that, currently, they are getting less than 10 per cent of the needed soya and maize produce locally, while the rest is imported mainly from Uganda.

He said they will need some 28,000 tonnes of maize and 11,000 tonnes of soya per year to produce 45,000 tonnes of fortified food annually. "What we request the government is to support for us to easily get the raw materials domestically. If you look at the Rwandan market, you realise that maize is not enough, soya is not enough. Efforts are needed to increase farmers’ yields so that we buy the raw materials here instead of importing them,” he said.

About 370,124 tonnes of maize were produced in the country in 2015, according to figures from MINAGRI.

Figures from Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) show that the country’s soya production is still low, at an estimated 35,000 tonnes per year.

This production, RAB says, is even less than the soya demand of Mount Meru Soyco Ltd, an agribusiness company whose soya cooking oil factory has a crunching capacity of 45,000 tonnes of soya beans per year.

Rwanda imports about 30,000 tonnes of cooking oil, the main soya product, at a cost of $42 million annually, RAB figures indicate.

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