Focus Media (Kigali)
Sam Ruburika
21 October 2008
Rwanda last Friday celebrated the World Food day in Kabatwa sector, Nyabihu district. The celebrations coincided with the International Potato Day. The theme of the celebration was "world food security: the challenges of climate change and bio-energy."
Agriculture Minister Bazivamo: "There is no hunger in Rwanda, but there is malnutrition." (file photo)
The choice of Nyabihu was no coincidence, because the district has managed to significantly increase its production of Irish potatoes, emerging-nine years after security problems seriously affected the district-as one of the leading producers. From 10 tons per hectare in 2005, it jumped to 35 tons this year.
And the district is not only famous for its production of Irish potatoes, it has also performed well in maize, pyrethrum, wheat and bananas.
However, farmers voiced concerns on the rising prices of pesticides as well as the lack of basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity and access to clean water.
They also complained about the under-pricing of their products due to the involvement of middlemen, and asked the Agriculture Minister to help solve the issue.
The celebrations of World Food Day come amid increasing food prices as well as hunger across the globe, with an estimated 800 million people going hungry.
According to the Minister of Agriculture, Christopher Bazivamo, who presided over the celebrations, the day was an opportunity to sensitize Rwandans, and especially farmers, about hunger, poverty and malnutrition.
The Minister remarked that there is currently no area in the country that is being affected by hunger. He attributed this to the government's initiative to increase production, the introduction of modern methods of farming as well as value addition.
The Minister pointed out, however, that hunger should be distinguished from malnutrition, and that there are indeed people in the country who do not have a balanced diet. "There is no hunger in the country, but there is malnutrition," Bazivamo warned.
Substitutes
Concerning the rising food prices in spite of increased production, Minister Bazivamo explained that this is due to the growing imports of foods stuffs that are not produced in the country, such as oil and other packed food.
Moreover, he pointed out that high fuel prices makes transport more expensive, which also impacts on the price of food. Last but not least, speculation by middlemen also plays a big role in sudden price hikes.
"To counter the increase in food prices, we need to reduce food imports by finding substitutes for these products," Bazivamo said, adding that higher production as well as value addition, and the use of modern farming methods, would also result in a surplus, and is vital to combat poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
The Minister remarked that World Food Day should therefore be a platform to discuss what has been achieved in the agricultural sector, and examine areas that still need improvement. He added that it is important for developing countries to engage in economic and technical cooperation since it would help develop the agriculture sector.
He however warned that sustained agriculture development requires protection of natural resources as well as value addition.
Climate change
Climate change has indeed had adverse effects on agricultural production, and the poorest countries are already its first victims. Worse, the situation does not seem likely to improve quickly.
It is expected that the hundreds of millions of people who are currently vulnerable and food insecure will be the worst hit.
"Climate change will affect availability of land water and biodiversity," Jacques Diouf, the Director General of Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a statement on the occasion of World Food Day.
Diouf pointed out that changes in temperatures and rainfall, as well as more frequent extreme weather partners are likely to result in agriculture production shortfalls, with negative impact on access to food.
On the other side, increase in agriculture production requires a steady rise in investment, which has declined in poor countries over the past 30 years. According to the FAO statistics, public investment in agriculture has decreased from 17% to 3% between 1980 and 2006.
In Rwanda, only 4% of the national budget is currently allocated to agriculture. However, the government has promised to gradually increase this to 10%.
Another factor hampering agriculture development is the reluctance on the part of financial institutions to give credit to projects in the sector.
"We need to reverse this trend and come back to the previous levels of investments," Jacques Diouf said, adding that there is a need to create food-enabling frameworks for substantial increase of foreign direct investments for agriculture in low-income countries that experience a food deficit.
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