Kirehe – Over 1,240 Friesians will be distributed in Kirehe District by the end of the year under the One-Cow-per-Poor-Family scheme, also known as Gir’inka. Speaking during the handover of 48 Friesian cows to families in Kirehe sector on Sunday, the Mayor, Protais Murayire, said they had so far distributed 750."Since we started giving cows to families, we have registered a tremendous improvement in livestock farming, controlled malnutrition and reduced poverty in general,” she said.Gir’inka programme was initiated by President Paul Kagame in 2006 to help reduce poverty levels in the country.Bonifrida Mukasonga praised the programme for its ability to change lives of the vulnerable."There is no doubt that Gir’inka transformed people’s lives. I am one of the direct beneficiaries…my cow gives me 10 extra litres of milk for sale. I now harvest 10 tonnes of maize on one hectare due to manure,” she said amidst cheers from fellow farmers.Meanwhile, Ubudehe validation data validation process has kicked off in several districts.Ubudehe is a community-based system that assesses the financial situations of citizens living in villages and helps uplift them.Jean Marie Makombe, the Executive Secretary of the Eastern Province, said the validation would be conducted at the household level to ascertain citizens’ possessions and place everyone in the appropriate category."Due to the growing number of development projects, such as Gir’inka, most people in the Eastern Province are doing well economically,” he said."A recent survey showed that only 24 percent in the province are poor, and not 29 percent, which had come out of a previous survey because some had lied about their status expecting aid if they had been categorised as poor,” he added.The government has set sights on a GDP per capita target of US$ 1,240 by 2020.