Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) recently announced that the consumption of milk per-capita in the country increased by almost four times in the period of 18 years. But make no mistake, this is not a natural progression. It is a result of deliberate efforts and policies to improve standards of living.

In 2005, an average Rwandan consumed 20.5 liters of milk per year, but now they consume 78.7 liters, which is almost 60 liters more in less than two decades. This means that a Rwandan will drink a cup of milk every other day, or a cup almost everyday if it is a 240 ml cup. Rwandans are drinking so much more milk despite inflation and scarcity that lingered the country in the past few years.

In his 1988 study, Joseph Rwanyagahutu found that an average Rwandan was consuming only 12 liters of milk per year in 1961. You think that’s low? Well, almost three decades later, in 1988, an average Rwandan was consuming only four liters of milk per year. If one was to calculate how much milk this is per day, good luck. Many Rwandans at the time probably never knew the taste of milk from the time they were born till they died.

Although the Hutu Power governments started importing improved dairy cows like the Holstein Friesian cattle in the 80s, 90 percent of the cattle in the country were slaughtered during the 1994 Genocide against Tutsi- that the same governments planned and executed.

Who knew that the cow could regain its place in Rwanda? Who would have thought that in a country where an average person drunk four liters of milk in a fully agricultural economy, would ever drink more than 70 liters more?

Rwandans today are living the dreams of our ancestors who initiated greetings such as: "gira inka” (have a cow), "gira amata” (have milk), "amata aguhame” (may you always have milk). They would dream of "amata avuna imitozo” (too much milk that breaks stirring sticks), of thousands of cows (amashyo). Has there been a time when Rwanda was like that other than now?

In 2006, President Paul Kagame launched the ‘Girinka Programme’ (which literally translates to have a cow/s). It is a "one cow per poor family” scheme where a poor family receives a cow free of charge, and when it reproduces, the first female calf is given to a neighbor who passes on a female calf to another neighbor, and so on.

This was a move to reduce poverty and its results that include child stunting and malnutrition. As of 2020, an estimated 400,000 cows had been distributed. What’s more, the Rwandan government further introduced the "One Cup of Milk per Child”. This programme, which in 2019 reached almost 620,000 children, is fully funded by the Government of Rwanda, and managed by the National Childhood Development Agency (NCDA).

The practice of sharing milk and cows is almost similar to that in pre-colonial Rwanda where since the 1600s at the order of King Mibambwe Gisanura, wealthy families who had cows and milk shared their supply with their disadvantaged neighbours.

Unlike in the past where only the wealthy owned cows or drank milk, Rwandans from all walks of life today can drink milk, and for children, it is a given. Or have we all become wealthy? What is undeniable, is that milk has become abundant. Like a typical Rwandan would say, I concur and say Amata araduhamye koko!

What is a cow in the Rwandan context?

A Rwandan traditional song ‘Kunda Inka’ (love cows) asks the question "udakunda inka ni nde?” (who doesn’t love cows?”) One may think that maybe, because our economy has evolved over the last decades, the cow probably depreciated. But even today, cows produce milk that is drunk fresh or fermented, and can be processed into a variety of products such as ghee, yogurt. We may not wear its skin as skirts anymore, but it is still important in shoe production, for instance. Even cow dung is used as manure, or to design traditional art 'imigongo', and sometimes to screed floors in remote areas. It looks beautiful, by the way.

The cow remains a symbol of wealth in some parts of Rwanda, where about 70 percent of the population are engaged in agriculture.

Cows are also valued in Rwandan culture even today. The best names are those that talk about cows and milk. Some of the most famous names are 'Gaju' which means 'brown skin cow'. The name is usually given to girls who are light-skinned. For boys the name is 'Rugaju'. Another one is 'Kamasa' which means a male calf, which is given to boys. 'Sine' which is a dark brown cow. It is also given to girls who are much darker.

Their importance can also be seen in greetings. We say 'amashyo' which means 'hundreds of cows' and the other person responds 'amashongore' which means or 'spears to protect the cows'. When someone does something nice, we say 'nguhaye inka' for 'I give you a cow'. Many people, especially elders give cows as gifts to newlyweds or someone who has graduated or given birth. It can be in the literal sense, or just mean they will give them a big gift. And, oh, cows are treated almost as good as people. They are mourned when they die, and each has a name- even if one has hundreds of them.

In Kinyarwanda, everything to do with cows and milk has its own language. Using usual words to describe them would be abusing them. Beautiful people are told they have eyes of a female calf.

The praises of cows never end, but who doesn’t love cows? Who wouldn’t love them today and in the future?