Nyabihu District  in Western Province, has its capital in Mukamira, with  12 sectors (imirenge): Bigogwe, Jenda, Jomba, Kabatwa, Karago, Kintobo, Mukamira, Muringa, Rambura, Rugera, Rurembo and Shyira.

The resident population of Nyabihui district is 330,000 of who  157,000 are males and females 173,000.

According to Nyabihu District mayor, Theoneste Uwanzwenuwe, the district has improved in many aspects in the last seven years in  the social and economic welfare  of its residents.

The district has heavily invested in infrastructural development;  Rwf800 million on the construction of feeder roads, Rwf700 million in water and electricity distribution, and construction of modern villages,  agriculture education and health among others.

The Mayor says that local leaders and residents are  more focused on working together  to achieve the desired economic development.

"We need to work as a team to ensure  development, security and socio-economic transformation,”  Uwanzwenuwe said.

He challenged the local leaders in sectors, cells and villages to closely work with the local people, know their needs and issues affecting them in all aspects of security and development in line with the government policy and programmes, which he said lies in their core responsibilities.

Agriculture

Agriculture is the backbone of Nyabihu’s economy and the majority of households in the district are  engaged in  crop or livestock production.   In recent years, the district has implemented several ambitious programmes to increase the productivity of  agriculture.

According to 2015-2016 statistics, the district had improved yields per hectare of; , maize  4.8 tons  beans 2.532 tons ,  Irish potatoes at 29.445 tons and wheat 3.38 tons all of which are attributed to   land consolidation and  increased use of fertilizers.

The number of farmers using improved seeds increased by 80% meaning that out of  30,651farmers in Nyabihu, 26,227 have been sensitized and are using improved seeds while the number of farmers using fertilizers also increased by 80% meaning 2,626 out of 2707 farmers who were sensitized used fertilizers.

Land consolidation

Under land consolidation program, Nyabihu district has focused on land administration and land use management as key areas for the land reform process that will support sustainable development.

Today Nyabihu district has consolidated 97% of the land that was prepared for consolidation. Out of 51618, a total of 50.034 ha of land has been consolidated, 9569 ha for maize, 20918 ha Irish potatoes 16.667 ha and 4,464 ha for wheat.

Terraces

In Nyabihu, most of the agriculture is practiced on the slopes of hills and mountains. Deforestation has however  caused extensive land degradation and soil erosion.

Today a total of 332 ha have been developed, surpassing the targeted 315ha.

Coffee

The district has also had an increase in coffee production from 58tons in 2015 to 145.416 tons in 2016. Washed  coffee increased from 25tons to 29.129 tons. Tea

The district  planned to increase tea acreage by 90ha  in order to add 1152 tons of tea production, a target that was surpassed by more than 117 ha  and  I,264.430 tons. 

Water and sanitation

In 2011, the EICV3 results showed that 52.5% of households in Nyabihu district use a protected spring and 25.7% use a public standpipe or water piped into dwelling/yard. However 20.4% of households still use water from unprotected springs. 

The percentage of households using an improved water source in Nyabihu district was above the national and Western Province averages, respectively 74.2% and 75.1%.

Improved drinking water sources include protected springs, public standpipes, water piped into dwelling/yard, boreholes, protected wells and rainwater collection.

Nyabihu district is among 11 districts which have between 70% and 80% of households using an improved drinking water source at national level.

In the last year, 3,954 new households have accessed clean water and 36.9km of pipe lines have been built in the sectors of Karago, Rurembo and Bigogwe.

New headquarters

Nyabihu District Council approved the allocation of Rwf800 million towards the construction of   new district headquarters that started in the fiscal year of 2015/2016.

The three-storey building has been constructed in Rubaya Cell, Mukamira Sector, in the same location of the current offices.

Roads

Thedistrict in 2015-2016 planned and constructed 46.8km of feeder roads of which 40.8km were Tubungo and 6.5km in Shyira sector. Also 111km of national and district roads were maintained and another 23.5 km of 27.5 km of Gishwati feeder roads were rehabilitated.

Employment

In Nyabihu district, the overall employable number of the resident population is aged 16 years and above meaning there is need to sensitize the youth to create more jobs by engaging more in other economic activities other than farming.

In the past year, the district created 5438 out of the targeted  5500 jobs,  393 SMEs have been financially facilitated with loans while 116 youth who completed studies were given technical support from SACCOs and BDF.

Industrial projects

Nyabihu Potato Company was launched on March 8, 2016 and produces a range of potato products, including potato chips, with capacity of processing 500 kilograms per hour.

Irish potato growers in Nyabihu district have benefited from the establishment of the processing factory which has enabled them to add value to their produce and to efficiently manage post-harvest handling.

In terms of capacity building, many of the workers at the factory have got trainings in food processing and have acquired skills in handling these state of the art machines and are now able to pass on this knowledge to their work mates.

Electricity

Work on the construction of Giciye II Micro Hydro Power Plant in Nyabihu was completed with a production capacity of 4MW.

Rwanda Mountain Tea Ltd decided to seize the opportunity and invest in Hydropower plants.

The company currently operates a 4 MW Giciye I Hydropower Plant inaugurated in 2014 on Giciye River and it is expected to even construct Giciye  III after the completion of Giciye II on the same river.

A total of 899 households were added on the grid last year.

Bio gas

In order to protect forests in Nyabihu, the district has for a long time been sensitizing the local population on the use of bio gas.

Since 2011, a total of  30 biogas systems have been built in the district every year and  in 2015-2016, some 45 bio gas digesters were  built. Education and health

In line with improving the education sector, 30 new classrooms, 36 toilets and one vocational training institute have been built. The school-feeding prohram in the district has, too, been supported and  over 51% 0f the students have lunch at school.

The number of students that is not attending school has reduced from 12.7% to 9.3% in primary and from 14.1% to 12.7% in secondary schools.

Also the number of adult illiteracy has reduced by 72%.

To strengthen the health services provision,  3 health posts in Jomba, Jenda and Kabatwa were built last year and 214,964 out of 274,030 people have got medical insurance Mutuelle i de santé.  Social protection

Under social protection, 17 houses have so far been built for genocide survivors and 670 out of the targeted 950 households have so far received cows.

The district has improved levels of nutrition  among children aged under 5 years. In 2016, 176 cases of malnutrition were  treated.

The district in the last one year has mobilized residents to establish  2850 kitchen gardens in a bid to fight malnutrition.