Special measures have been taken to reduce stunted growth among children by 50 per cent in 13 districts across the country, Alexis Mucumbitsi, the Head of Nutrition and Hygiene Department at NECDP, has said.

At least $52 million has been mobilised to eradicate stunting in the most vulnerable districts.

The districts include Rusizi, Karongi, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Rubavu and Nyabihu Western Province, he said. In Southern Province, they include Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru, Huye and Ruhango.

Kayonza and Bugesera are the districts with the highest stunting in Eastern Province while in Northern Province there’s only Gakenke.

"The 13 districts have the highest stunting rate among children and that is why the Government has put more efforts into supporting them,” he said.

The affected districts are supposed to request part of the funds.

The funds, Mucumbitsi said, said are aimed at setting up kitchen gardens, village kitchen, growing fruits, providing cooking equipment to the local among other measures.

He disclosed that part of the funds will be used to provide shelter, build toilets for vulnerable people as well as constructing Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDs).

ECDs are supposed to have different services including the fight against stunting among children, providing antenatal care to pregnant mothers, early childhood education, improve hygiene and sanitation among others,” he added.

A look at numbers

In 2005 stunting among children was at 51 per cent, which reduced to 44 per cent in 2010 before further easing to 38 per cent in 2015.

Anaemia among the children under five years old, which is 37 per cent is also still a challenge.

Anaemia is a condition in which there is a deficiency of red cells or of haemoglobin in the blood.

Mucumbitsi said that Demographic and Health Survey to be released in April 2020 will also show the progress on reducing stunting.

"We have changed the pace at which we had been reducing stunting. We have committed the efforts to move from 1.2 per cent education rate per year to 3 per cent reduction rate. This annual reduction rate will help us reduce stunting from 38 per cent to 19 per cent by 2024. This means 50 per cent reduction,” he said.

Mucumbitsi explained that stunting is caused by different factors.

"There might be availability of food but no accessibility meaning some have no capacity to buy food while others have food but no skills to prepare them in a way to fight malnutrition,” he said.

He added that government is working on a law to subsidize food supplements.

The Executive Director of SUN Alliance Rwanda, Venuste Muhamyankaka who is also the president of Rwanda Nutritionists’ Society said that at the national level, food security averages 80 per cent , meaning that a new strategy is needed to scrutinize individual households with stunting.

"For example, we have realised that 58 per cent of children in Bumbogo sector in Gasabo District are stunted. We need to scale up teaching manuals on how to fight stunting in households and also integrate them in the school curriculum,” he said.

editor@newtimesrwanda.com