FIELD FOCUS
Farmers Feed Refugees in Rwanda
Africa
USAID’s Local Purchase Program
Saves Money and Time
Ed. note: This article, courtesy of USAID, illustrates some support,” she said.
Furaha had a small plot of land
of the positive effects that reforms to U.S. food aid would have.
Bread’s 2014 Offering of Letters (www.bread.org/ol) focuses on and started cultivating it, but she
had no access to a market and did
these smart reforms as a way of ending hunger.
Rwanda, located in the heart of central Africa, has expe- not know how to manage post-harrienced remarkable progress in food security and nutrition vest staple crops. With the support of
in the last several years. According to a 2011 survey, between USAID and WFP, she learned how to
2009 and 2011, levels of stunting among children dropped manage her produce after harvest, and
from 52 percent to 42 percent and levels of underweight chil- as a result of her improved maize quality,
she was able to sell it to WFP and to traddren from 16 percent to 13.8 percent.
However, despite these improvements, the Rwandan peo- ers. Thanks to the support she received from
ple still experience high rates of poverty and malnutrition—a WFP and USAID, she has constructed an iron-roofed house,
situation further exacerbated by the more than 67,000 refu- bought a cow, and enrolled all of her children in school. She
gees who now reside within Rwanda’s borders. These refu- pays medical insurance for herself and her four children, and
gees come primarily from neighboring Democratic Republic they have enough food at home for the family and extra inof Congo (DRC), fleeing the continuous
come from selling crops on the market.
conflict and violence plaguing the east.
Agnes Ingabire Mutoni is a 31-year-old
With no access to land for cultivation By purchasing the food
refugee with six children. “My youngest
and limited livelihood opportunities, ref- locally, USAID and WFP are
child, Joselyne Mushimire, suffered from
malnutrition because we had travelled a
ugees depend entirely on humanitarian
long distance from Rutshuru in eastern
food assistance to meet their basic food able to save considerable
time and money.
DRC to Rwanda fleeing fighting in the
needs. Extremely vulnerable groups must
area,” she said. “I arrived at Nkamira tranrely heavily on supplementary food to
stave off malnutrition.
sit center and transferred to Kigeme camp,
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) where I received a monthly food ration and super cereal [a
and the World Food Program (WFP) are working together fortified food] from WFP. My lovely child recovered from malon a program that feeds the large refugee population while nutrition after a few months of eating the nutritious food.”
supporting smallholder farmers within Rwanda. With cash
These programs have also made providing aid more effisupport from USAID, WFP purchases cereals and pulses cient. By \