The Public Health Students Association from the University of Rwanda (UR) has completed a campaign on fighting malnutrition in Burera District.
The outreach activities included preparing a balanced diet, preparing long-lasting kitchen gardens and sanitation practices, such as hand washing, cleaning kitchens, using clean latrines and feeding the children.
The integrated campaign also focused on how to improve domestic sanitation and indoor air quality to reduce their impact on maternal and child health in Nemba and Cyeru sectors.
"Stunting in Rwanda has been declining over the past years, but it is still a problem especially in Burera, which has one of the highest rates,” Benoit Ndagijimana, the association’s president, said.
"Our campaign is focused on hygiene, which goes hand-in-hand with a balanced diet. So, apart from teaching people how to cook nutritious meals, we also remind them that hand-washing and other sanitation practices are just as important in order to fight malnutrition.”
Affirming that people need knowledge about ways to end malnutrition, Ndagijimana said that they taught the residents how to prepare a balanced diet using the foodstuffs available in Burera.
According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), in 2020 Burera District had 41.6 per cent of stunted children, making it one of the districts with a high rate.
Residents were shown practical ways to end malnutrition among children.
"The students taught us how to prepare vegetables, potatoes, beans and other crops we grow. They also taught us how to prepare a kitchen garden, and the knowledge will help us,” Providence Bahemukiyiki, a resident of Nemba Sector, said.
Local authorities commended the students’ initiative, saying it helped increase people’s awareness about the issue of malnutrition.
"We are thankful for the students’ activities because they will help our people to learn appropriate ways to end malnutrition,” Egide Ndayisaba, the executive secretary of Nemba Sector, told The New Times.
"When young people like these university students come to our community people are more alerted to the problem and hopefully, they will put what they learn into practice.”
The Northern Province has stepped up the fight against child stunting in all its five districts, including Burera, hoping to reduce the stunting rate from 41 per cent to 19 per cent within the next two years.
National target by 2024
The government, non-profit organizations and communities have undertaken different interventions across the country to uproot stunting. These include the initiative of the Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres.
According to figures from the NISR, the national rate of stunting stood at 33 per cent in 2020. The government’s target is to reduce stunting to 19 per cent in 2024.