(L)Kayisinga Jean Claude the permanent secretary in MINAGRI exchange documents after signing with , Dr. Kayumba Charles who signed on behalf of the 6 civil society organisations
Rwanda’s One Cow per Family – Girinka program will now be co-managed by 6 local civil society organisations and authorities at sector and cell levels.
Currently, 284,000 cows have been given to poor families across 30 districts of the country. The government targets to have given out 350,000 cows by December 2017. This number will bring the program to the end.
For the next three months, organisations including; Send a cow Rwanda, Heifer International, DUHAMIC ADRI, Rwanda Veterinary Council and APCT and Rwanda Development Organisation (RDO) will be in charge of purchasing and delivering at least 1500 cows to the poor households.
Today, in an agreement signed by the Agriculture ministry (MINAGRI) which implements the program committed to give Rwf 1billion to buy the cows.
“The amount was raised by members of Private Sector Federation (PSF) after a pledge they made to support Girinka ,” Jean Claude Kayisinga, the Permenant Secretary for MINAGRI told KT Press today.
On December 5 last year, members of the Private Sector body, while meeting President Kagame, announced a historical pledge by offering many cows to needy Rwandans as part of supporting the ‘One-Cow-Per-Household’ programme.
The cows were pledged through Rwf1.1 billion ($1.4 Million) cheque.
Since 2006, the government has been giving cows to poor families. When these cows give birth, their calves are given to neighbours to continue the chain. So far 284,000 cows have been given out.
Meanwhile, the organisations that were tasked to implement this program work in social protection and mainly the livestock sector.
Their assignment will be to buy and give cows to the households in first and second categories under Ubudehe – the poorest in Rwandan community – from a list that will be provided in collaboration with local leaders.
They are also in charge of medication of the cows as well as training them on best practices in livestock rearing.
The Rwanda Governance Board (RGB) will be in charge of monitoring.
“The civil society is a strong partner of government’s development agenda. We want these organisations to be efficient in community oriented activities,” Kayisinga said during the signing today.
He also said, they have ability to reach the citizens easily and to communicate with them effectively.
Besides the cows that will be given out through civil society, MINAGRI and Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) will keep giving out Girinka cows until they reach the target.
Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the Chief Executive Officer of RGB said that this kind of partnership is only the beginning.
“We have started with Girinka program but also Vision 2020 Umurenge Programs (VUP) will be handed over to civil societies soon,” he said.
