The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources has issued new guidelines to help identify beneficiaries of the One Cow per Family - Girinka programme in a transparent way. ALSO READ: How one cow per poor family could bolster milk production Minister Ildephonse Musafiri said the identification of the beneficiaries will no longer be based on Ubudehe categories. Ubudehe classification, which is based on household financial status, was first introduced by the government in 2000 as part of the strategies to address poverty reduction. Previously, financial assistance to the vulnerable was based on Ubudehe classifications. “Today we will provide a cow to the vulnerable under the poverty line based on the household’s profile which shows their status of resilience,” Musafiri said. The household’s profile is found in the newly developed social registry Information System. He said that a Girinka committee has been established to identify the beneficiaries. The selection is carried out during all village citizens’ gatherings and will prioritise vulnerable families with children under five, families with a person over the age of 64, families with people who have disabilities, and households led by women. The committee has been tasked to fight against embezzlement and corruption among other malpractices that were identified during the programme’s implementation. In December 2022, Members of Parliament asked the Prime Minister to look into issues that are impeding the productivity of the Girinka - One Cow per Poor Family Programme, which was supposed to contribute to curbing poverty. They said the programme’s implementation started without an assessment of beneficiaries, and ensuring all the requirements for its effective execution. MPs noted that beneficiaries were given cows without means to rear them and there was a lack of an effective approach to prepare beneficiaries, inadequate care for the provided cows, and entities that do not effectively fulfil their responsibilities as indicated in the instructions of the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources. ALSO READ: 97% of needy families benefit from ‘Girinka’ programme Musafiri said a cow will now be given to a vulnerable person with at least 1,000 square metres of land as a means to breed and provide adequate care for the provided cow. “The committee to select beneficiaries runs from village to district level including the City of Kigali. Security organs, representatives of people with disabilities, youth, women and others must all play a role in identifying and monitoring the beneficiaries,” he said. He said before distribution to the underprivileged, the cows must be first vaccinated against a disease locally known as “Ikibagarira”. “The cow about to give birth, which is also insured, is the one that must be distributed to the selected beneficiaries,” he said. Over 400,000 cows have been distributed under the Girinka Programme since its inception. As a result of such support, milk production increased from 442,337 metric tonnes in 2011 to 891,326 metric tonnes in 2021.
