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Rwanda

Rwanda Key Message Update, August 2018

Favorable food access and forecasted rainfall support Minimal food security outcomes

  • Season C planting is complete, and some early planted crops are already being harvested. Land preparation is underway for Season A, and with an above-average rainfall forecast, production prospects for December 2018 to January 2019 are favorable, supporting Minimal (IPC Phase 1) outcomes countrywide. According to field informants, approximately 150 households in Western Province remain displaced from the March to May landslides, but they are able to meet their minimum food needs as they continue to receive humanitarian assistance and are earning income from tea plantations and mining.

  • As the grain reserves from the Season B harvests in May and June decrease, food prices are seasonally increasing but remain much lower than last year. According to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR), July staple food prices in rural areas were 1.7 and 7.7 percent lower than a month ago and July 2017, respectively. Good food access continues as poor households are earning income through petty trade or daily agricultural labor opportunities.

  • According to UNHCR, in July, Rwanda was hosting about 145,000 refugees, and those living in camps are almost entirely dependent on humanitarian assistance, even though they have some access to outside labor opportunities. While WFP is still distributing full rations to refugees living in camps, it recently announced that its stocks will be exhausted by November 2018 if there is no additional funding. Without assistance, Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes would be likely.