RUTANA March 14th (ABP) – A training of representatives of farmers’ groups in Bukemba commune on early warning to cope with possible food shortage that can be caused by climate hazards was organized in Rutana province (south-east) on Thursday 7 and Friday March 8, 2019 under the Pro-Act, a project of the United Nations for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), carried out in Rutana province by the local NGO called Help Channel in Giharo commune and the Organization for Mutual Aid and Community Development (ODECO), a development organization of the Rutana Catholic Diocese in Bukemba commune, a check in Rutana by ABP has revealed.
According to Method Niyongendako, a food security analysis consultant who facilitated that training, early warning is information related to food security or agricultural production that shows that during the coming days, there may be a food shortage taking into account water deficits or plant diseases. It consists of informing about climatic hazards that can cause, in the future and even in a near future, a food insecurity. It is therefore a matter of inculcating the representatives of the farmers’ groups how to behave in the face of the imminence of a food imbalance due to a water deficit or any disease of the plants.
According to the consultant, farmers are taught how to understand those messages and how to use them to build resilience by using means at their disposal. It’s about helping them anticipate a food crisis from what they have.
For example, they were shown how with two chickens or a small field of vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines or amaranths, they can fill the void in the months to come.
The training was held in two phases, the first one concerning the organizations of the producers of the Pro-Act 1, that is to say, villages like Butare, Muyombwe and Ruranga, and the second concerning the organizations of the Pro-Act 2, i.e., Kabanga, Bukemba and Rubanga villages. During that training, it was noted that women were much more numerous than men in proportions of 70 and 30%. For the consultant, this has an important impact on the prevention of food insecurity risks and is an asset, since it is much more women who manipulate the means of production.
That project called Pro-Act has three components, namely field schools farmer (CEP), savings and loan organizations like “Nawe n’uze” and community listening clubs that are a framework for exchange on any problem in the community.
