The Minister of Education, Dr Charles Murigande, who is also the
Chancellor of the National University of Rwanda (NUR), has underscored
the importance of research in guiding policy makers on resource
allocation as they seek to address the problem of food security and
undernourishment which constitute major impediments to development.
Officially
opening the 3rd National University of Rwanda annual International
Scientific Research Conference on Tuesday, Murigande said that
solutions to these challenges should be based on practical experiences,
but most of all, on scientific evidence enshrined in research both –
fundamental and applied.
He said that the conference comes
timely as Rwanda and many other poor countries around the world enter
the remaining five-year journey towards the Millennium Development
Goals.
“Food and nutrition security and integrated pest
management comes timely ... as it appears that one of the most likely
MDG to be missed is the first - that of reducing by half the proportion
of people living under poverty line...and also reducing by half the
proportion of people who suffer from hunger,” Murigande said.
“It
will be difficult to achieve the aims of national development plans if
the constraints imposed by undernourishment of the population are not
dealt with.”
He said that one of the main pillars of the vision
2020 - a development strategy aimed at transforming Rwanda into a
middle income country by that year, is the modernisation of the
agricultural sector to ensure food security and also reduce trade
deficit through agriculture exports.
Murigande noted that
although for the last four years Rwanda has been producing enough food
to feed her population, the country still faces high levels of
malnutrition due to many factors which include the lack of adequate
knowledge on how to have a balanced diet, poor food distribution
channels and disorganised internal markets.
“The government of
Rwanda is cognisant of the fact that improving nutrition requires
multi-sectoral actions to ensure that everyone enjoys adequate
nutrition. The well being of a population determines the countries
productivity level which is why government treats nutrition as a
crucial component of development,” Murigande told researchers.
He added that researchers at the conference will provide useful insight on how these challenges will be addressed.
Over
100 research papers will be presented during the three day conference
many of which are expected to be published in indexed international
journals.
New Times
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