Livestock Insurance program earns international accolade for Rwanda

The award is designed for innovative programmes or projects that bring social impact and transformation within communities of African countries.

Nsengyunva initiated the Livestock Insurance scheme where farmers annually subscribe to a modest Rwf 2000 premium and get their cows treated and monitored at a small fee whenever the need so arises. His innovation that won the award beat competitors from 49 countries with five (Rwanda, Egypt, Mauritius, South Africa, and Morocco) making it to the final stage.

Nsengiyumva recently announced that the insurance program has been instrumental in addressing animal care challenges where farmers buy veterinary drugs at cheaper prices compared to open markets.

The Minister of Local Government, Professor Anastase received the award on Monday on behalf of MINALOC on November 6th, 2018 on the occasion of African Association for Public Administration and Management’s round-table conference in Gaborone, Botswana.
He thanked Vincent Nsengiyumva for helping the residents by coming up with a solution to their problems and earning the country an honor.

He added that the award is a great honor for Rwanda, positioning her on a global scale.
“This award is an honor for Rwanda and has a close relationship with the culture of the country as well as the leadership of Rwanda today that is generating own solutions to own problems. We are asking for this program to be up-scaled to other sectors so as to serve other residents,” he added.

The Livestock Insurance works in the same way as Mutuelle de Sante; it’s annual, categorized and begins in July. Subscribed farmers have their cows treated and pay 20% of the vet drugs and treatment costs.

One of the farmers in Nkungu Sector, Patrice Sibomana recently reported that before, they were given cows in the Girinka program but that it was hard for them to afford veterinary drugs. “With the cow insurance scheme, we can afford timely monitoring, treatment, and feeding. Better results are realized in better milk yields and healthy animals,” he explains.