EDITORIAL: Every child should be safe from malnutrition

Rwanda’s malnutrition rate in children has dropped from 52 per cent between 2005 and 2016 to 38 per cent. This is according to the latest report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. The drop was attributed to the several initiatives by the government to fight malnutrition and hunger. This development is good news, but it is not yet time to celebrate, until we register minimal cases or zero cases of malnutrition in the country. The way forward is to consolidate the achievements while seeking more ways to stamp out malnutrition across the country. This can be achieved through leveraging on the current gains, especially through supporting government initiatives to fight hunger and malnutrition like the ‘One Cow Per Poor Family’ programme, One Cup of Milk per Child per day, and school feeding programme. These initiatives should be boosted to fully address the issue of malnutrition especially in the rural areas. Equally, more sensitisation is needed especially at the grassroots level, targeting mainly households. Studies have shown that malnutrition is less among children born to educated women than those born to non-educated women. Therefore, this calls for the need to keep the candle of girl-child education burning. In that respect, ensuring that all girls go to school will go along away in addressing the problem of malnutrition in households. Rwanda has recently made significant strides in reducing hunger and under-nutrition as well as in addressing some of the underlying issues that hold back progress. That is why boosting agricultural productivity and improving food security is a priority under Vision 2020, which includes child nutrition as a key indicator. Also, food security and nutrition are considered key issues in the national growth blueprint, the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II).

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EDITORIAL: Every child should be safe from malnutrition