RwandaAssessment of Food Security and Nutrition Situation
Innocent MusabyimanaPermanent Secretary of MINAGRI
Roundtable DiscussionMarch 24, 2016 | Kigali, Rwanda
Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Progress in reducing hunger, but more to
be done
• Undernourishment has fallen from 56% to 32% (1990-2014)
• Regional variation
– Most food insecure: Western region
– Least food insecure: Kigali City
• Rwanda food deficit: 232 kcal/day
• Poor spend 60% of income on food
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
19
90
-92
19
93
-95
19
96
-98
19
99
-01
20
02
-04
20
05
-07
20
08
-10
20
11
-13
20
14
-16
Mill
ion
s
Perc
ent
Prevalence (%)
Number of undernourished (Millions)
Undernourishment in Rwanda
Sources: FAO 2015, WFP 2015
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Poverty persists despite strong economic
growth
• Low income country with impressive GDP growth
– 7.2% average growth from 2000-2014
• Poverty reduced, but 60% live below $1.90/day (2008)
• Majority of poor live in rural areas, where poverty and hunger are highest
76.97
68
60.25
0
20
40
60
80
100
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
10
20
12
Pove
rty
hea
dco
un
t ra
tio
(%
)
GD
P (
PP
P)
per
cap
ita
($)
GDP per capita
Povertyheadcount ratio
GDP per capita (PPP, Current international dollar) and Poverty Headcount Ratio at $1.90 a day (2011 PPP, % of
population)
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Food availability improving, but food
access is a challenge
• Food production and productivity have increased
– From 1995-2013, yield has increased for
• Roots and tubers (doubled)
• Plantain (+35%)
• Low-income farmers, unskilled daily laborers & daily agric. laborers are most food insecure
– Spend 75% of their income on food
Sources: FAO 2015, WFP 2015
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Despite progress, child undernutrition is
high
• Child stunting fell from 52% to 38% (2005-2015)
– 3% reduction per year
• Anemia/iron deficiency
– Women of reproductive age: 17% anemic (2011)
– Children under five: 38% iron deficient (2015)
• Child wasting: 2% (2015)
• No imminent obesity problem
4548
52
44
38
1996 2000 2005 2010 2015
Prevalence of under-5 stunting (%)
Sources: FAO 2015, WFP 2015, UNICEF/WHO 2015
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Stunting prevalence and progress varies
by region
Sources: WFP 2015
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Selected determinates of nutrition
• Diet diversity: Proportion of calories from non-staple crops above Africa average (50% vs 37%)
• Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene (WASH): Increased coverage from 1990 to 2013
– Safe drinking water: 58% to 76%
– Improved sanitation coverage: 38% to 75%
• Maternal education: children of mothers with no education more likely to be stunted
– Female secondary education enrollment: 34% (2013)
Source: WHO/UNICEF JMP 2015
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
National frameworks and plans for food
security and nutrition
Strategy/Plan Relation to food security, nutrition
Vision 2020 Includes agric. production, child stunting goals
2nd Economic Development & Poverty Reduction Strategy
Sets food and nutrition among long-term foundational issues
Strategic Plan for the Transformation of Agriculture
Aims to transform, commercialize agriculture; increase rural incomes; reduce poverty
Health Sector Strategic Plan Identifies nutrition indicators (e.g. Reduce child stunting from 44%-18% from 2013-2018)
Social Protection Sector Strategic Plan
Seeks to reduce social, economic vulnerability for poor, vulnerable, & marginalized groups
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
National Food and Nutrition Strategic
Plan (NFNSP, 2013-2018)
Seven strategic directions
1. Advocacy for food and nutrition, resource mobilization
2. Reducing child stunting
3. Enhancing household food security
4. Preventing and managing all forms of malnutrition
5. Improving food and nutrition in schools
6. Assuring healthy food and nutrition in emergencies
7. Supporting activities and services9
Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Implementation of NFNSP
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Many stakeholders engaged
Sources: REACH 2015
Over 65 stakeholders are working on food security and nutrition at national and subnational levels in Rwanda
Number of food and nutrition partners registered in REACH Stakeholder Mapping exercise
11
Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Selected policy gaps
• Improving girls’ and women’s education and
empowerment
• Enhancing health environments with improved WASH
• Promoting pro-poor land tenure policies
• Leveraging agriculture for growth, reduced poverty, and better nutrition and health
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Selected implementation gaps
• Improving coverage of core nutrition activities in districts of most need
• Scaling-up of existing interventions where needed for improving agric. production at household level
• Strengthening support to community health workers, farmer promoters and others
• Improving coordination across sectors AND levels of government
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Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
Selected knowledge gaps
• Understanding bottlenecks to improving child nutrition
– E.g. Key risk factors, capacity and data gaps for tracking and monitoring progress
• Exploiting cross-sectoral linkages
– E.g. Across agriculture, nutrition, and gender
• Stimulating agricultural innovation
– E.g. Biofortification, horticulture value chain development14
Rwanda Roundtable Discussion, March 2016
In summary
Challenges and opportunities
Strengths
• High level of political will for food security and nutrition
• Enabling environment for business
• Highly suitable for investment, e.g. in biofortification interventions
• Community health workers/farmer promoters in place for intervention delivery
Weaknesses
• Lack of local coordination and uneven geographic coverage of nutrition programs
• Low (but growing) investment/capacity in agricultural R&D
• Agricultural growth not always pro-poor
• Limited scale-up of many pilot projects
Opportunities
• Momentum from Sustainable Development Goals, global initiatives supporting Rwanda
• Regional integration of Rwanda’s agric. sector
• Suitable environment for "outside-the-box" innovations
• Presence of coordination mechanisms
Threats
• Climate change
• Population growth/changing demographics
• Fragile neighboring states
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