Households In Rwanda Research Articles

Water Demand by Unconnected Urban Households in Rwanda

In this paper, we analyze water demand by urban households in Rwanda who currently lack a piped connection into their home. The analysis uses data from a cross-sectional survey. The results show that public taps are the most widely used water source and that the demand for water from this source is more inelastic than that for water from other water sources. Although some households combine different sources of water, the majority in the sample uses only one source. We use the full household income, including the value of the household's time, and obtain results which indicate income elasticities higher than those obtained using monetary income only. The full cost associated with alternative water sources (including the opportunity cost of the time used) is shown to be important for determining the choice of source — something which has been overlooked in most previous studies.

Potential Impact of Alternative Agricultural Technologies to Ensure Food Security and Raise Income of Farm Households in Rwanda

Rapid population growth and stagnation of agricultural yields in Rwanda have caused a steady decline in food production per capita, a continuous expansion towards the use of marginal land and a strong degradation of land. The challenge of simultaneously achieving food security, rural welfare, land protection and soil fertility regeneration in the face of its high population is overwhelming to Rwanda. The objectives of this article are to assess the potential impacts of the alternative agricultural technologies on income, food production and soil loss for four arable farm household types and to assess policies that could induce adoption of these technologies. These include combined use of Tithonia diversifolia (green manure) and Diammonium phosphate. The bio-economic farm household model used has a form of a mathematical form of quadratic programming model. Model results show that these alternative agricultural technologies will clearly enhance food production and income for all farm household types except the full-time farm household for which cash at the beginning of the season is too restricted to switch to the new technologies. The outcomes of the model also reveal that with alternative technologies soil loss and soil organic carbon do not entail negative economic consequences. Off-farm employment policy will have a high impact on adoption among households with small farms and less off-farm opportunities because it provides cash that is needed to adopt the new technologies.

Prevalence of breast masses and barriers to care: results from a population-based survey in Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Breast cancer incidence may be increasing in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). This study estimates the prevalence of breast masses in Rwanda (RW) and Sierra Leone (SL) and identifies barriers to care for women with breast masses. only. Data were collected from households in RW and SL using Surgeons Overseas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS), a cross-sectional, randomized, cluster-based population survey designed to identify surgical conditions. Data regarding breast masses and barriers to care in women with breast masses were analyzed. 3,469 households (1,626 RW; 1,843 SL) were surveyed and 6,820 persons (3,175 RW; 3,645 SL) interviewed. Breast mass prevalence was 3.3% (SL) and 4.6% (RW). Overall, 93.8% of masses were in women, with 49.1% (SL) and 86.1% (RW) in women >30 years. 73.7% (SL) and 92.4% (RW) of women reported no disability; this was their primary reason for not seeking medical attention. Overall, 36.8% of women who reported masses consulted traditional healers only. For women in RW and SL, minimal education, poverty, and reliance on traditional healers are barriers to medical care for breast masses. Public health programs to increase awareness and decrease barriers are necessary to lower breast cancer mortality rates in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).

Smallholder cooperatives and agricultural performance in Rwanda: do organizational differences matter?

AbstractAgricultural policies in Rwanda focus on agricultural intensification and increased market orientation of the smallholder farm sector. Cooperatives are seen as key vehicles in this, but little is known about their effectiveness to achieve these goals. In this article, we analyze the impact of cooperative membership on the agricultural performance of rural households in Rwanda. We use cross‐sectional survey data, collected in 2012, to analyze the impact of cooperative membership on different agricultural performance indicators, including indicators on agricultural intensification, market orientation, farm revenue, and income. We use several econometric techniques to deal with potential selection bias in estimating the impact of cooperative membership, including a proxy variable method based on a willingness to pay measure and propensity score matching methods. We find that cooperative membership in general has a positive impact on farm performance but these effects are driven by specific types of cooperatives.

Injury, disability and access to care in Rwanda: results of a nationwide cross-sectional population study.

Disparities in access to quality injury care are a growing concern worldwide, with over 90 % of global injury-related morbidity and mortality occurring in low-income countries. We describe the use of a survey tool that evaluates the prevalence of surgical conditions at the population level, with a focus on the burden of traumatic injuries, subsequent disabilities, and barriers to injury care in Rwanda. The Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) tool is a cross-sectional, cluster-based population survey designed to measure conditions that may necessitate surgical consultation or intervention. Questions are structured anatomically and designed around a representative spectrum of surgical conditions. Households in Rwanda were sampled using two-stage cluster sampling, and interviews were conducted over a one-month period in 52 villages nationwide, with representation of all 30 administrative districts. Injury-related results were descriptively analyzed and population-weighted by age and gender. A total of 1,627 households (3,175 individuals) were sampled; 1,185 lifetime injury-related surgical conditions were reported, with 38 % resulting in some form of perceived disability. Of the population, 27.4 % had ever had a serious injury-related condition, with 2.8 % having an injury-related condition at the time of interview. Over 30 % of household deaths in the previous year may have been surgically treatable, but only 4 % were injury-related. Determining accurate injury and disability burden is crucial to health system planning in low-income countries. SOSAS is a useful survey for determining injury epidemiology at the community level, which can in turn help to plan prevention efforts and optimize provision of care.

THE CHALLENGING ABSENCE OF ADULTS IN YOUTH-HEADED HOUSEHOLDS: THE CASE OF DISSENSION MANAGEMENT AMONG THE FAMILY MEMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY A SIBLING IN RWANDA

This exploratory study looks at conflict and dissension occurring in youth-headed households in Rwanda. To gather qualitative data about these issues, seven focus group discussions were conducted with the heads of 41 youth-headed households. Results show that based on a participant’s personal experiences, conflict and dissension are common in youth-headed households, manifested in poor communication and the absence of positive interaction between members. The most often reported consequences of this conflict and dissension include household members leaving home and becoming separated from the family, coupled with and exacerbated by health problems and poverty. Participants also reported feeling psychological distress, social isolation, a lack of motivation, and suicidal thoughts. Where there is conflict, participants turn to their own friends or their parents’ friends for support. Participants also reported needing economic assistance and psychosocial support. Based on the focus group interviews, the researcher concludes that it would be beneficial to set up specific community-based structures that could deal with all issues of daily life and regulation facing youth-headed households. The researcher recommends that the training of youth-headed households in how to take on family responsibilities should be a national policy.

Have coffee producers benefited from the new domestic cherry market? Evidence using panel data from Rwanda

AbstractThe article assesses the effects of the new domestic cherry market on coffee‐growing households in Rwanda using panel data. Findings from combined first differenced with instrumental variable specification and other estimation methods provide evidence that farmers who sell to the cherry market do not increase their expenditures compared to farmers selling to the traditional parchment market. The different time lags in terms of when farmers started selling to the new cherry market may explain the lack of statistically significant differences across the two groups. It is possible that farmers will adjust their expenditure patterns in subsequent periods after year‐over‐year market trends become more apparent to them.

English

Coffee is the main source of income for a large number of households and provides major foreign currencies for the national economy. Although it covers only 6.3% of cultivated areas, coffee is produced by 500,000 households in Rwanda. Since its introduction in the country in 1904, coffee has always been operated by individual producers. However, after the liberalization of the coffee sector in 1998, the quantity and quality produced are steadily decreasing which affects the price and the income of coffee growers. To search for a solution, the Rwandan government has striven to consolidate coffee growing cooperatives in different parts of the country by building coffee washing stations (CWS). These stations were mainly meant to help coffee growing cooperatives produce high quality coffee which is competitive on the international markets. The goal is to produce a fully washed coffee, exportable and better valued on the international market, which can provide better income for peasant producers. Coffee washing stations are then seen as tools to produce quality coffee and are mainly run by cooperatives, which are structural elements in the rural world. Through these facilities and structures put in place, jobs are created for coffee producers, loans are granted, farmers are motivated due to the increase of income, the market is guaranteed and the prices become attractive for the members. Thus, the socio-economic welfare of coffee growers is improved, which reduces poverty among coffee growers’ households. This study focuses on the analysis of the role resulting from the structuring action of the peasants through CWS and coffee cooperative KOPAKAMA Rutsiro District, Western Province of Rwanda on the socio-economic development and technical assistance of members and the surrounding world. Key words: KOPAKAMA Cooperative, coffee, coffee washing stations (CWS), growers, socio-economic development.

Manipulating the Rural Landscape: Villagisation and Income Generation in Rwanda

The aim of this paper is to investigate whether households that are relocated to government-built village settlements, as part of Rwanda's Villagisation programme (‘Imidugudu’), diversify into non-farm income-generating activities more than other rural households in Rwanda, and if so, to what extent the variation can be explained by differences in micro-level asset and meso-level access factors. Despite the programme objective to stimulate non-farm activity, the results of empirical estimations drawing on household and community-level data suggest that Imidugudu households differ surprisingly little from other rural households in terms of diversification into non-farm income sources. Moreover, the slightly greater participation in non-farm income-generating activities observed among the Imidugudu households can be attributed to regional variation and household characteristics mattering for selection into the programme, rather than to asset endowments and improved service access. The results, thus, provide very little indication that the programme has achieved its objective of stimulating diversification into non-farm income-generating activities. Rather, they highlight the need to carefully monitor the earning opportunities of resettled households that have been disrupted from their familiar productive environment. Copyright 2013 , Oxford University Press.

Poverty Dynamics, Violent Conflict, and Convergence in Rwanda

This paper analyzes the poverty impact of the violent events that affected Rwanda in the 1990s. The main objective of the paper is to identify systematically potential mechanisms linking violent conflict with changes in poverty across provinces and households in Rwanda before and after a decade of violence. In accordance with emerging literature on the long‐term economic effects of violent conflict, we find empirical evidence for economic convergence between richer and poorer Rwandan provinces and households following the conflict shocks. Using a small but unique panel of households surveyed before and after the conflict period, we find that households whose house was destroyed or who lost land ran a higher risk of falling into poverty. We do not find much evidence for an economic effect of violent deaths at the household level due to substitution effects of labor within the household. Non‐violent deaths however seem to increase income per adult equivalent for the survivors. Results are shown to be robust to sample selection and IV models.

Youths navigating social networks and social support systems in settings of chronic crisis: the case of youth-headed households in Rwanda

Youth-headed households in Rwanda live in a context of chronic crisis, where poverty, disease and uncertainty are not exceptional but characterise people's daily lived reality. Struggling under the pressures of economic deprivation, social isolation, abuse and exploitation, these youths experience social suffering and feel the impact of social forces on their everyday lives. Yet, amid constraints in the environment, youths demonstrate resilience by actively navigating their social networks and working to create opportunities for the future. The article describes qualitative research carried out in three communities in Rwanda, between 2006 and 2010, examining the support systems of Rwandan youths affected by the HIV epidemic and socio-political conflict and exploring how youth heads of households navigate social networks in order to buffer the suffering in their lives. It is argued that social support is vital for these youths as they struggle to survive, seek to gain a degree of control over their lives, and strive to have a hopeful future. Examples show the remarkable ability of such youths to confront adversity by mobilising resources and exhibiting agency, although they may continue to experience suffering when support is lacking. The article concludes that to improve wellbeing and reduce suffering for youth-headed households, it is critical to recognise the social relations that may limit or enhance these youths’ ability to navigate their social environment. Youths’ agency needs to be recognised as a means to reduce the detrimental impacts of their actions and instead build on positive strategies, enabling them as they navigate their life course towards future possibilities. Finally, the dual role of youth heads of households — as individuals in adult roles and as youths — should be recognised, with initiatives to build them up designed around economic strengthening and mentorship.

Energy Psychology Treatment for Orphan Heads of Households in Rwanda: An Observational Study

Energy Psychology Treatment for Orphan Heads of Households in Rwanda: An Observational Study

Energy Psychology Treatment for Orphan Heads of Households in Rwanda: An Observational Study

Energy Psychology Treatment for Orphan Heads of Households in Rwanda: An Observational Study

Determinants of smallholder farmers' participation in banana markets in Central Africa: the role of transaction costs

AbstractA bivariate probit model was employed to jointly and separately estimate banana market participation decisions of buying and selling households in Rwanda and Burundi using household survey data. Selectivity bias was corrected for estimating the transacted volumes using Heckman's procedure. The results showed that transaction cost‐related factors such as geographical location of households, market information sources, and travel time to the nearest urban center influence market participation. Non‐price‐related factors such as security of land tenure, labor availability, off‐farm income, gender of the household head, and years of farming experience had a significant influence on the transacted volumes. Output prices had a significant correlation with sales volume, indicating price incentives increased supply by sellers. Generally, the findings suggest that policies aimed at investments in rural road infrastructure, market information systems, collective marketing, and value addition of banana products may provide a potential avenue for mitigating transaction costs and enhancing market participation and production of marketed surplus by rural households.

Resiliency of children in child-headed households in Rwanda: implications for community based psychosocial interventions

This article focuses on the resilience of children facing extreme hardship and adversity. It is based on participatory research with children living in child headed households in Rwanda. It emphasizes the importance of listening to children's voices and recognizing their capacities when designing interventions to strengthen their psychosocial wellbeing. This study shows that children have developed innovative and profitable coping strategies and some have even developed the capacity to thrive through their situation of extreme hardship. The study of these coping strategies suggests that the children displayed resourcefulness, responsibility, and a sense of morality. However, when the stressors in a child's life became too great, they tended to employ negative, and potentially harmful, strategies to cope. A community based approach should focus on strengthening overall community wellbeing, and should aim to build on the capacities of children, such as their positive coping mechanisms and resilient characteristics. At the same time, it should appropriately address their areas of vulnerability. Existing protective factors should also be identified and further developed in interventions. (C)2009 War Trauma Foundation

Do agricultural outputs of partly autarkic peasants affect their health and nutrition? Evidence from Rwanda

In rural areas of less developed countries because of market imperfections, the health and nutritional status of peasants may directly depend on the production levels of specific agricultural goods rather than solely on income levels. This channel of health and nutrition determination has never been studied. In order to assess and test the empirical possibility of this channel, we estimate the responses of health and nutritional status of autarkic agricultural households in Rwanda with respect to differences in socio-demographic characteristics and the main agricultural outputs and inputs while controlling for local environment and sampling scheme. Several food outputs are found to have a positive influence on health and nutrition, whereas the production of traditional beers has a negative impact. Moreover, greater land negatively affects health and nutrition, conditionally on agricultural production, perhaps because of a larger relative workload for households who have a large farm. An alternative interpretation of the estimates is that they inform on the validity of the common hypothesis of perfect agricultural input/output markets with no effect of agricultural inputs/outputs on health and nutrition status. This hypothesis is rejected.

Infants and young children living in youth-headed households in Rwanda: Implications of emerging data.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has already produced millions of orphans in Africa and the peak of the orphan epidemic has not yet been reached. One emerging social trend associated with premature parental death is the formation of households headed by youth aged 13-24. In Rwanda, specific sociocultural factors have supported the formation of youth-headed households (YHH) in the wake of both the 1994 genocide and the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. There is no published data on the health and socioemotional functioning of children under 5 living in YHH. Survey data from 692 YHH in one region of Rwanda yielded a subsample of 89 homes which contained one or more children under 5 (n=104). These data reveal that a majority of young children living in YHH's is in fair or poor health. Heads of household themselves report high levels of depressive symptoms and social isolation; reports of emotional distress among the youngest children in the homes are associated with reports of higher symptomatology among heads of household. Findings are interpreted in light of the sociocultural context of Rwanda and the implications of the data for intervention are considered.

Psychosocial support and marginalization of youth-headed households in Rwanda

This research aims to characterize the psychosocial aspects of well-being among youth-headed households (YHH) in Gikongoro, Rwanda, through examination of social support and marginalization. Data is presented on perceived availability of support from relatives, an unidentified adult, peers, and other community members and an index of social marginalization. A total of 692 interviews were completed with YHH age 13–24 who are beneficiaries of a basic needs program. Sixteen percent of youth reported there was no one they felt they could go to with a problem. In times of need, only 24% felt relatives would help them, while 57% felt neighbors would offer assistance. Most youth reported significant caring relationships: 73% reported access to trusted adult who offers them advice and guidance, and most indicated close peer relationships. However, many youth also perceived a lack of community support, with 86% feeling rejected by the community and 57% feeling the community would rather hurt them than help them. Social support is a low-cost critical resource for the care of vulnerable youth and an understanding of existing social support networks would enhance the design and implementation of psychosocial and community-based care initiatives.

A Health Production Function for Quasi-Autarkic Agricultural Households in Rwanda

In situations of imperfect markets and high ratios of ownconsumption which characterise agricultural households in developing countries, the levels of their agricultural outputs may affect their health status. However, if income effects have been often studied, the impact of the composition of agricultural output on the health of peasants is not known. We estimate a health production function for agricultural households in Rwanda, which depends on levels of different agricultural productions. The results show that the levels of bean output are associated with better health status, while traditional beer output has a negative impact on health status. This suggests implementing policies aimed at crop substitutions in order to improve the health status of peasants.

The impact of the production composition on the nutrition status of agricultural households in Rwanda

In a context of perfect markets, the impact of production decisions of peasants on their nutritional status is conveyed through an income effect and the structure of the output does not matter. Because of the imperfect and missing markets in LDCs, the levels of their agricultural outputs may directly affect the nutritional status of agricultural households. We estimate a production function for the nutritional status of agricultural households in Rwanda, that depends on sociodemographic characteristics and on past levels of agricultural outputs. The most beneficial outputs are tubers and an aggregate good composed of food products of high quality, while the traditional beers output and the nonfood products have a negative impact on the nutrition indicators. The sociodemographic characteristics of the household are influential, but they do not seriously modify the effects of the agricultural outputs. The results suggest that the nutrition policy in Rwanda could use incentives so as to modify the composition of the agricultural output of peasants.