Food security update predicts good agricultural season

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 organisations 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. [The FEWS NET/WFP report is available online at: www.fews.net]