KIGALI - World Food Programme (WFP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Rwanda Animal Resources Development Authority (RARDA) to buy 300 heads of cattle at an estimated cost of $ 415,000 destined for poor households.

The animals will be donated under the One Cow Per Poor Households programme, a government initiative to reduce poverty levels in the country.

An agreement paving way for the start of procurement process was signed yesterday between WFP and RARDA at WFP headquarters in Kigali.

Beneficiaries to the initiative will be families around 50 schools benefiting from school feeding programme.
WFP has been supporting meals programme since 2002 and to date, over 350,000 pupils from 300 schools have benefited from the programme.

Speaking at the signing event, Jan Delbaere, WFP’s Deputy Country Director , said that their mandate is to move people out of hunger which is the reason why they support the one cow per family initiative.

"The MoU aims at supporting one cow per family programme and joining efforts with the government in reducing poverty, curbing malnutrition and hunger,” he said.
He added that, they would be empowering families to support themselves out of poverty instead of donating aid to them.       

He noted that WFP will closely work with the Ministry of Agriculture through RARDA to procure and distribute the cows to the selected beneficiaries and they will also provide capacity building and other services deemed necessary.

According to Dr. Theogene Rutagwenda, the Director General of RARDA, the distribution of the 300 cows to poor households is another important step towards reducing poverty in Rwanda.

"This is a very good initiative by WFP to support in the empowerment of our people to move out of poverty and in the fight against food insecurity in our country,” he said.

He added that, so far 102,333 cows have been distributed in the programme countrywide.

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