The "Joseph Of the Bible"-like project: Investigation 1

This article is set out to give practical examples on how the "Joseph Of the Bible"-like project will help the poorest people and explain how it fits into the school project, which was last considered in Consultation paper 8.

Practical Examples:

The quantitative and qualitative malnutrition inherent to the lack of cash to buy other food products and inability to keep any food stock until the next harvest mentioned in the Joseph Of the Bible"-like project are indeed very real.

According to the World Food program (WFP) latest information release (14-07-2006), the government has put in place measures targeting traders and farmers:

First, "Only traders who have accepted to create buffer stocks receive an authorization to buy on the condition that the seeds would be resold to farmers during the lean period of September-October. After an agreement was signed, traders are recommended to install rub-halls or to rent houses in Rwamagana and/or Bugesera Districts where the collected foodstuffs will be stored. Most of the food is procured from Kibungo, Umutara and Kigali Ngali. Seventy percent of the collected food will be supplied to Kigali market while 30 percent will remain in the local stocks.

Second, the government also put in place "measures of mandatory food storage at the household level coupled with the ban of abusive sale of food crops ".

The effectiveness and practicalities of both measures can't be guessed.

However, to put the life of farmers in perspective, please listen to this: I remember that, as a child, meat was always a treat for new year, never had milk or eggs and once the harvested foodstuffs are over, parents, like many then and today, have to labour for a handful of better off people, get cash and then bring some food home (the cheapest on the market of course).

Using the data of the ministry of agriculture (2000-2003), please allow me to further explain the foresaid statement using only beans, tatties, rice and the daily wages for labour (prices are in Rwandan Francs and 1 US $ = 540 FRW).

The average cost of beans was 147 FRW/Kg
The average cost of tatties was 46 FTW/Kg (a few Kgs would be required b'se of family size)
The average cost of rice was 264 FRW/Kg (same as above)
The average cost of meat was 720 FRW/Kg
The average cost of labour was 308 FRW/day.

You can see why meat is automatically out of consideration, even when both parents go out for labour (child may be sick, wife pregnant etc... , any way well off people don't always have work...!!). Labour or indeed field work is similar to image shown on the link above and reproduced here.

Once the harvested stock is over, one day's labour might not even feed the family with the most cheap meal of all (rice and beans, tatties and beans etc...); and salt, oil, wood or charcoal not included (i.e. salt=118 FRW/Kg; oil= 337 FRW/Kg?).

This is why there is malnutrition both quantitative and qualitative, and why either farming as a profession has to be modernized (produce more from a small land- fertilizers etc..., mechanization etc...; diversification of food products; introduction of food storage technologies such as freezing, sun drying etc...) or we simply accept to live on WFP's aid.

Here it's not in the event of natural catastrophe such as drought, but even during normal season!

How would the Joseph of The Bible (JOB) project alleviate these problems?

At harvest, every farmer is under pressure to sell some of the crops to meet urgent and fundamental needs. It could be sending a child to school (stationery etc...) or hospital; buying clothes for the most naked members and alike.

Such pressure compounded to the law of "offer and demand" operating against him/her at harvest (more goods at the market drive down the price) make that he/she sells, let's say beans at a low price. And please see how much kilograms he/she has to sell in order to afford another food item let alone medicine, clothes, or stationery.

The Joseph of the Bible project will buy his crops at a better price (mid-season price) such that his/her purchasing power of food or other goods becomes greater; even so for food stored in the Joseph Of the Bible project, b'se those will be sold at a harvest price (cheap).

Potentially, more food (from the project) and more market goods (medicine, etc...) .


Link with School Project:

There is no doubt the Joseph Of the Bible (JOB) project will answer some of the concern raised in the Consultation Paper 7, due to the following reasons:

First, for any class taken on the scheme, all the parents of the children will participate in the JOB project. Joining will be voluntary but open to all the parents.

Second, as depicted in Consultation Paper 8, it is becoming obvious the feeding program will start only if we are able to include all the pupils studying in the chosen class.

Some Questions:

Qeustion1: "If the farmers are able to grow enough to sell some to us -why don't they just store it themselves"?

Question2: "If subsistence farmers don't grow enough to last from one harvest to the other where would we buy our food to store from"?

For answers and many more Q/A topics, please click here.

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