Rwanda’s Policy for National Development calls for preservation of an atmosphere of peace and serenity, restoration and strengthening of national unity, resettlement and reintegration of refugees and victims of the genocide, respect for the right of all refugees to return to Rwanda and development of human resources and the national economy.

Planned

Achieved

To assist communities in applying a structured participatory approach to problem solving through training and backstopping.

To supply office buildings and equipment at sector, commune and prefecture levels; to support the rehabilitation of the National Agricultural Research Institute (ISAR) station in Umutara; and to construct the Directorate of Agricultural Services (DRSA) office in Nyagatare.

To construct, furnish and equip six women’s centres, one in each commune; to facilitate formation of women’s groups; to train women’s group committees; and to support a functional literacy programme aimed at some 7 000 illiterate women.

The 2001-2003 work plan has been prepared and submitted to the project management unit. The Netherlands Development Organization will be responsible for coordinating a consortium of international and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) responsible for implementing community development activities.

Lack of water and transport infrastructure were among the major causes of poverty in recently settled communes in the project area. The national sector policy for water and sanitation emphasizes rainwater harvesting when no alternative is available, promotes the role of communes and water-user committees in management of water-supply schemes and encourages NGOs and other organizations to take the lead in forming water-user committees. Under this policy, water users are responsible for meeting the costs of operations and maintenance.

To achieve sustainable improvements in the supply of safe water; to carry out a feasibility study on supplying water from Byumba prefecture through gravity-fed schemes; and to fund gravity-fed borehole and domestic roof-catchment supply systems.

To construct 300 km of farm-to-market roads.

To provide hygiene education to about 27 500 households.

The construction of 30 boreholes was completed under an urgent programme requested by the Government.

With the restoration of peace and resettlement of displaced persons, the Government initiated policy reforms to stimulate economic recovery. A major cause of poverty in the project area was lack of financial services and resources that would allow purchase of small livestock, improved seeds and tools, and that would initiate non-agricultural income-generating activities.

Planned

Achieved

To provide each cell (the most decentralized territorial unit of local government) with matching grants of up to USD 500 per annum for three years.

To initiate a women’s investment fund with a 50% subsidy on equipment costs to facilitate financing of income-generating projects requested by women’s groups.

No information is yet available regarding implementation of these activities.

Lack of water is the main problem faced by livestock owners in the project area. In some areas, only 10% of cattle have ready access to water. In 1997, about 30 000 head of cattle were reported to be dying of thirst. There is pressure to move cattle to the banks of the Akagera River during the dry season, crossing the park and risking exposure to serious animal disease.

To carry out a study to identify the best technical solutions and prepare a master plan of cattle water points; and to provide USD 600 000 to construct the water points.

To establish cattle water point users’ associations; and to provide transport and related costs.

No information is yet available regarding implementation of these activities.

Livestock has traditionally represented an important source of manure for smallholders, and a way to accumulate capital and insure households against risk. Ninety-nine percent of the Umutara cattle are Ankole breed; they are hardy and resistant to tropical diseases, but genetic potential for milk and meat production is limited.

Cattle and small livestock were decimated during the genocide. Cattle herds have been rebuilt more quickly than herds of small livestock, but ownership has become unequal. Numerous cattle holdings are currently in north-eastern prefectures such as Umutara, because large herds were brought back by refugees returning from the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. Umutara’s cattle currently produce a large share of the milk and meat traded in Rwanda.

About 50% of households in non-project communes in Umutara rear sheep and goats; in the project area the figure is 33%. Before the war, all households in Rwanda, with the possible exception of the very poor, had one or two small ruminants. Women breed the small stock and poultry under normal circumstances, but livestock services are not geared towards providing advice to women.

To support DRSA and ISAR in undertaking on-farm tests and demonstrations concerning:

production and conservation of fodder crops and improvement of grazing land (Phase I); and

animal production problems, fodder production and conservation, introduction of improved rearing technologies, breed improvement and improved collection and treatment of manure (Phase II).

No information is yet available regarding implementation of these activities.

Livestock production losses caused by animal disease are reported to account for 25% of the value of cattle production. Pastoralists and mixed-farming households have expressed deep concern about the high mortality caused by trypanosomiasis, anthrax, brucellosis, tuberculosis, rinderpest, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) and contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP). In October 1999, the project area was put under quarantine because of a devastating epidemic of FMD. In the past, vaccination against CBPP brought the mortality rate down from 29% to 6%. During the last four years, however, cattle vaccination coverage in Umutara has declined to 65%, partly because of lack of veterinary resources combined with an approach that does not involve livestock owners in planning and implementing vaccination campaigns. This has generated a positive reaction among livestock owners, however, who perform some preventive veterinary medicine services on their own, procuring drugs and vaccines on the open market.

To introduce a para-veterinarian programme for small stock and support the training of para-veterinarians, providing transport and covering recurrent costs.

To establish a group revolving fund scheme for vaccines and consumable products.

Proposals for a legal framework for para-veterinarian activity were submitted to government authorities.