Rwanda has made a significant improvement in managing hunger, ranking third on the continent.In a new report released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Mauritius and Malawi took the first two positions on the continent.The Minister for Agriculture, Dr Agnes Kalibata, attributed the improvement in the Global Hunger Index (GHI-2013) to programmes such as Girinka.Girinka is the cattle-stocking One-Cow-per-Family programme.“In 2007, 70 per cent of our population were on the borderline of food insecurity; they could only afford one meal a day. However, through government programmes like Girinka, we have reduced the number to 17 per cent,” Dr Kalibata said at a news briefing last week.The minister added that government’s commitment in fighting malaria and malnutrition among children also led to the country’s success in fighting hunger.Reports indicate that the country is 80 per cent food secure despite changes in climate with 4 per cent of the total population believed to be food insecure. The Global Hunger Index is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger by country and region. Compiled annually by IFPRI, the index highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger.New drive rollingThis year’s index was under the theme, “Resilience in theory and in practice.”The Minister of State for Public Health and Primary Healthcare Dr Anita Asiimwe, who was also at the news conference, said government has embarked on a thousand-day nutrition drive that will see massive awareness drive on food security and nutrition.“The majority of our people have food but don’t know how to use it, if you have a chicken at home and it lays eggs don’t sell the eggs to buy soda for your child but instead give them to the kids to help them grow healthy,” she said.Asiimwe said the country was on the right track toward eliminating hunger altogether. The Global Hunger Index is based on malnourishment, child underweight and child mortality.The index ranks countries on a 100-point scale. Zero is the best score (no hunger), and 100 is the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice.Burundi is the worst ranked country in the East African region.
