Rwanda achieves success in reducing child hunger without relying on aid
The Kimironko market in Kigali. Rwanda has succeeded in setting up a
communal food reserve to which each household contributes at least 20
per cent of their harvest during a good season, with the stored food
being used during the lean season. Photo/Morgan Mbabazi
By IRIN
Posted Thursday, February 27 2014 at 10:43
In Summary
The UN Children's Fund (Unicef), in a 2013 report on progress in
tackling malnutrition, noted that in 2005 more than half of Rwanda's
children under five years of age — about 800,000 —were stunted.
Rwanda scaled up community-based nutrition programmes in all 30 of the
country's districts, and has also been setting up an almost universal
community-based health insurance scheme.
Rwanda has achieved remarkable success in reducing child hunger, and
nutrition experts believe there may be lessons here for other
countries in Africa.
The UN Children's Fund (Unicef), in a 2013 report on progress in
tackling malnutrition, noted that in 2005 more than half of Rwanda's
children under five years of age — about 800,000 —were stunted.
"Just five years later, stunting prevalence had decreased from an
estimated 52 per cent to 44 per cent," the report said.
The Rwandan approach has been to try and find home-grown solutions.
It scaled up community-based nutrition programmes in all 30 of the
country's districts, and has also been setting up an almost universal
community-based health insurance scheme.
"This was all done with the help of food grown locally, and not
packaged interventions provided by donors," said Fidele Ngabo,
director of maternal child health. "There are thousands of local
solutions for hunger…
"Each village comes up with community-based approaches to tackle
malnutrition and food insecurity that don't cost money—we are at the
centre to provide support and play a monitoring role," she said.
Examples include the setting up a communal grain reserve to which each
household contributes at least 20 per cent of their harvest during a
good season, with the stored grain being used during the lean season;
or the expansion of kitchen gardens with shared information on the
vegetables to be grown.
Suggestions and proposed solutions are debated in working groups
comprising aid agencies, researchers, academics and government
officials.
The Rwandan model could be used in other African countries, where
foreign donor-driven initiatives tend to focus on treatment and
technical solutions.
READ: Rwanda scores highly on food security
Change will only come when nutrition research is led by Africa, and
interventions are designed to meet a country's priorities, according
to the findings of a two-year European Union-funded Sunray(Sustainable
nutrition research for Africa in the years to come) project, published
recently in PLOS Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal.
"We need to shake up nutritional research in Africa and turn it upside
down," said Patrick Kolsteren, of the Institute of Tropical Medicine
in Antwerp, Belgium, the coordinator of the Sunray project.
"Currently, researchers from developed countries search for African
partners for joint research, based on funding and research priorities
defined outside Africa. Instead, the research agenda should be based
on needs identified within the continent. Calls for research proposals
of donors should match this agenda."
"We did not look at the portfolio of interventions but rather looked
at the research agenda. The overall feeling was that this agenda is
mainly donor driven and not [always] in line… with the locally
identified needs and priorities," he said.
"Another reality is that donor aid must have tangible results," he
added. "Results must be measurable," something that is not always
possible with community-based interventions.
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/Rwanda-success-in-reducing-child-hunger-without-aid-reliance/-/2558/2223824/-/86s1pe/-/index.html
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