Rwanda celebrates the World Food DRwandans joined the rest of the world on October 26, 2017 to celebrate this year’s World Food Day that took place in Rubengera sector of Karongi District. It was observed under theme “Invest in Food Security and Rural Development.”
The annual World Food Day celebration was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, in collaboration with the United Nations Rome-based Agencies including Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and World Food Programme (WFP).
The event was marked by a series of activities including sowing beans, giving milk and vitamin-rich food to children, giving dairy cows to vulnerable families, and an exhibition of agricultural produce to showcase how best farming practices have improved yields.
This celebration is an opportunity to enhance coordination and guidance for various efforts made in agriculture investment especially food security investment. The event was also an occasion to call the attention of the private sector to invest in food security to increase incomes and provide opportunities of Rwandans’ livelihood improvement.
Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr Gerardine Mukeshimana, said that the World Food Day is a chance to show Rwanda’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 – to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030; and also to celebrate the progress the country has already made towards reaching “Zero Hunger.”
“The government of Rwanda has made considerable effort in promoting vitamin-rich foods including iron beans and sweet potatoes rich in vitamin A in a bid to eradicate malnutrition in the country,” said Minister Mukeshimana.
Girinka program is another government’s initiative that has contributed a lot in improving nutrition among Rwandans through milk consumption, according to the minister. Since its inception in 2006, at least 300,740 vulnerable families have received dairy cows; and the initiative still goes on.
The minister also took the opportunity to urge all Rwandans in general, and Karongi residents in particular, to sustain agricultural infrastructure facilities such as radical terraces, irrigation and post-harvest facilities that have been provided by the government
Food and nutrition have become a foundational issue of Rwanda’s plans for economic development and poverty reduction. The 2013 National Food and Nutrition Policy (NFNP) recommends actions needed to sustain this position and innovative strategies that will help to assure that in Rwanda food and nutrition improvement becomes and remains everyone’s business.