3000 families to receive cows

KIGALI - 3000 vulnerable families in the country will get cows by the end of this year in the ‘One Cow per Household’ project commonly known as Girinka, the Minister of Agriculture has said. Agnes Kalibata said this Friday evening during the launch of this year’s Girinka, aimed at raising the targeted number of cows from farmers and other well-wishers. Close to 200 farmers, especially from the Eastern Province, and member sof the business community attended the event which saw 387 cows pledged. The project intends to raise 3,000 cows annually for the next seven years. Of the 257,000 vulnerable families that were targeted to benefit from the project in 2002, only 90,000 have so far benefited. 40,000 cows were donated by the government, 12,000 from local communities and 960 from Kenya and Ireland. Kalibata thanked those who donated cows in helping to have a free vulnerable group in the country and help President Paul Kagame fulfil his promises.The minister called upon everyone to help Kagame as a reward for what he has done for the country. “We should thank President Kagame who is the brain behind all we are enjoying today. He said that no Rwandan child should suffer from kwashiorkor and we must work towards the goal,” Kalibata said. ‘Girinka’ is a program introduced by government to fight poverty by giving a cow to each poor family. Ends