By Sulah Nuwamanya
The New Times

Kibungo Province has been selected as a pilot village to host a UN millennium research village project in Rwanda, a strategy to localize the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

This revelation was made by the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Prof. Nshuti Manasseh during a recent press conferencethat was also attended by the new UNDP country representative Mustapha Soumare, UNDP programme director and deputy resident representative Alain Noudehou and ministry officials, at the MINECOFIN’s conference room. “Kibungo has been selected as a model village project to achieve the MDGs within 10 years.

The minister said that the research village project will be a convergence of various projects that will help people in the areas hosting the project as an action plan to end poverty through an integrated set of practical and affordable interventions aimed at meeting the MDGs.

Some of the projects will include mosquito nets to fight malaria, vaccinations to fight infectious disease, antiretroviral therapies to fight HIV/Aids, fertilizers and agro-forestry to raise crop yields, bore wells for safe drinking water and diesel generators for village electricity.

Rwanda has been selected alongside nine other African countries to host a UN millennium research village project. The other countries are Senegal, Ethiopia, Mali, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Malawi. The minister explained that the project is yet to begin assessment studies for the suitability of establishing the millennium research village in the area.

“We are still making thorough feasibility studies in various areas in Kibungo. We are still looking at which crucial projects to start with and in which areas. But the whole province will be covered and eventually all areas in the country,” he said.

On the same note, Mustapha Soumare said that the village research project is one of the measures that were opted for by UN as one of the strategies to localize and attain the MDGs in various countries in Africa. He promised total support to the government in executing this project.

“The UN, World Bank, International monetary fund and other donor agencies have expressed their total commitment to fund this project. As UNDP, we shall make sure that this project is a success,” he said, adding that the project is a showcase and will be expanded to a larger scale.

Similar research villages have already been established in Sauri, Kenya and Koraro, Ethiopia and another one in Ntunda-Insigiro district-Uganda has already been launched. In Kenya and Ethiopia, the villages have already begun their MDG-focused programs and after only a few months of work, tremendous gains are already visible.

In Sauri, Kenya, crop yields have quadrupled over the last seven months through the use of fertilizers, improved seeds and improved planting techniques. In Koraro, Ethiopia, for the first time, fruit trees are growing alongside maize fields and enough mosquito nets will be distributed to ensure that every child is protected from malaria.

The ‘Millennium Village’ approach draws upon the village-level components of the UN Millennium Project’s bold science-based action plan to fight poverty.

It aims at identifying the practical ways in which impoverished villages in Africa and elsewhere can adapt and implement the interventions. The MDGs set up by the UN in 2000 aim at reducing world hunger by half, bring universal primary education, reduce child and maternal mortality rates, stop the spread of malaria, HIV/Aids, TB and diarrhoea, create environment sustainability and give access to safe water.