Hope For Families

Malnutrition rates among children under 5 years of age are unacceptably high (38%: chronic malnutrition/stunting, 16%: underweight and 6%: acute malnutrition). Deficiencies of micronutrients, including vitamin A, iron and zinc are also widespread. These deficiencies have been linked to high disease burden including malaria, diarrhoeal diseases and acute respiratory infections; and inadequate dietary intake resulting from suboptimal infant feeding practices (FANTA, 2010; FAO, 2010). Hope for Families seeks to promote production and utilization of grain amaranth in Rwanda Refugee camps, as a strategy to improve food security, nutrition and household income.  The project is aimed at contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of resource poor refugee communities in Rwanda through increased agricultural production of grain amaranth, increased consumption of grain amaranth and amaranth products as well as introduction of value added products

As of 31 November 2017, Rwanda hosted a total of 172,706 Persons of Concern (POC), with Burundians making up approximately 54 percent of the total refugee population in Rwanda. The average family size is 3.3 individuals. Some 51 percent of the registered population are children, while women and children altogether constitute 77 percent of the population. 25 children aged 6-59 months (0,18) are admitted for the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and 117(1,4%) for Moderate acute Malnutrition (MAM) every month. UNHCR estimated that approximately 96% of the refugees’s population in Rwanda is undernourished and the proportion of refugees unable to access adequate calories is estimated to have increased from 59 in 1999 to 90% in 2017 (UBOS, 2006). 

Malnutrition rates among children under 5 years of age are unacceptably high (38%: chronic malnutrition/stunting, 16%: underweight and 6%: acute malnutrition). Deficiencies of micronutrients, including vitamin A, iron and zinc are also widespread.  The flow of food (ration was redured by one-third in late 2018) and other aid has been severely damaged by inaequate funding from WFP, UNHCR and the Rwandan Government.

The situation of Burundian refugees in Rwanda remains a concern despite the commendable efforts of the government of Rwanda and its partners, primarily the UNHCR and other humanitarian organisations in providing the basic needs. AS these refugees flee during unrest/conflict they often leave everything behind. So they need all the basics to sustain their lives: food, clothing, healthcare, shelter, and household and hygiene items. These refugees need reliable supplies of clean water, as well as sanitation facilities. Children need a sufficient food and Adults need employment options in cases of long-term displacement. 

I started by using the User Centered Design approach in making sure they relate with the solution and base on the feedback and responses received the solution was re-tailored to suit their need.  The majority of refugees in Rwanda settlement/camps  are unemployed. 

To ensure families have more diverse diets and more food, Hope for Families will distributed a high-yielding, drought resistant seeds to refuge families, to enpower them as they are empowered with agricultural skills.

Hope for Families seeks to promote production and utilization of grain amaranth in Rwanda Refugee camps, as a strategy to improve food
security, nutrition and household income. The project is aimed at contributing to the improvement of livelihoods of resource poor refugee communities in Rwanda through increased agricultural production of grain amaranth, increased consumption of grain amaranth and amaranth products as well as introduction of value added products. 

Grain amaranth has peculiar characteristics which make it a suitable crop to
promote for nutritional improvement among resource constrained farming
communities. It is draught resistant, has high nutritional value, relatively easy to produce, is stable during storage and can be used to make diverse food products (Muyonga et al., 2008). Grain amaranth is rich in proteins, lipids, energy and fibre. Amaranth grains contain twice the level of calcium in milk, five times the level of iron in wheat, higher sodium, potassium, and vitamins A, E, C and folic acid than cereal grains (Becker et al., 1981). 

Amranth is responsive to nitrogen and phosphorous. Plants grown in average garden soil will be four-feet to six-feet tall, while those grown in rich soil or compost may reach over eight feet. Optimum soil is a well-drained loam but both plants will do well in all but poorly aerated clay soils. Amaranth are grown from seed. Amaranth seeds can be directly seeded into your flower garden, or started indoors for transplanting later. Note, Amaranth plants are susceptible to frost. Amaranth prefers warm weather. If planting outdoors, sow Amaranth seeds after the soil has begun to warm in the spring. Amaranth are very easy to grow.

Regardless of the kind of flour or ground meal we intend to make, (oat, amaranth, quinoa, flaxseed, prickly pear cactus seed flour, and chickpea are very popular varieties, or perhaps you want to try something else a little less common) the equipment will remain exactly the same: you need something to grind with, the seeds themselves, and an airtight container to store the finished product in. A grinding mill is the easiest way for novices to begin to make their own flours and meals. 

Our project is to produce  an Optim device, which produces amaranth by empowering refugees and putting them at the center in the implementation process. The immovativeness lies int he way the project was developed and will be implemented, which includes invilving refugees in the growing process and them becoming selfsufficient along the way.