Rwanda Expects Improved Seasons

NAIROBI - Mar 24/04 - IRIN -- Normal rainfall from March to May across much of Rwanda is expected to support a good harvest for most crops, according to a food security update issued by the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

"Despite erratic rainfall in January and February, cumulative precipitation was close to the long-term average and the spatial distribution was good, providing a hopeful state to the agricultural season," FEWS NET and WFP said in the report for March.

However, the update said the drought-prone Bugesera region required close monitoring. "An assessment in March determined that the sorghum crop should do well this season; however, a poor bean crop is possible if the rains stop prematurely in April," according to the report.

It said a disease affecting cassava, known as the cassava mosaic virus (CMV), continued to be a problem in Bugesera, but added that the Institut Superier Agronomique du Rwanda and the Agricultural Technology Development and Transfer were developing new CMV-resistant cassava varieties, of which 10 million cuttings would be distributed to farmers in March and April.

"Many farmers are citing lack of planting seeds as a constraint to [cassava] production," according to the report.

The organizations said food-for-work projects continued to play a key role in alleviating hunger in food-insecure regions across the country, and called for the expansion of such projects to provide additional food in time for the "lean" period of April and May.

Copyright (c) 2004 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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