The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) has opened 7warehouses to stockpile crops harvested across the country in order to stabilize market prices and ensure food security for those Rwandan’s at risk of going hungry.
Purchasing beans and maize from agricultural cooperatives throughout the country, the ministry is storing crops in warehouses so they can be distributed as needed when farmers are unable to meet their production goals.
By stockpiling crops after they’ve been harvested, the ministry is ensuring the price of food will remain stable, an important step in guaranteeing food security across Rwanda.
Despite the country’s impressive economic recovery, demonstrated by an annual GDP growth of 5.8% since 1998, household food security remains a challenge especially in Rwanda’s rural sectors.
Currently, 22% of Rwandan households are food insecure, while an additional 24% are highly vulnerable to food insecurity, according to a report by the World Food Program.
The Post Harvest Task Force Center in Musanze is one of seven centers where food is being stockpiled.
The Musanze center is being used by MINAGRI to store beans only and can hold up to 8,000 tons, though there are only 4,500 tons currently stockpiled, says Delphine Niwenkunda, a representative from the Musanze’s Post Harvest Storage Task Force.
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