Rwandan Red Cross:, an 'imihigo' for risk reduction

By Alex Wynter in Kabuya 1 village, Kayonza, Rwanda

CEOs the world over seeking ways to boost their organizations' productivity could do worse than take a look at the Rwandan concept of imihigo.

An essentially untranslatable Kinyarwanda word, it's usually rendered as "performance contract"; sometimes just "goal" or "target". But none begin to do the idea justice.

Signed imihigos carry far greater moral force and, increasingly prevalent in the public sector in Rwanda, they indicate an utterly unshakeable determination to succeed in one's objective, come what may.

To judge by the extraordinary level of civic pride in the streets not just of Rwanda's capital, Kigali, but in other cities as well, they work.

The spirit of imihigo seems visible in every immaculately manicured public garden, every mown verge, every neatly painted kerbstone, every storm drain into which not so much as a cigarette butt has been dropped.

Kigali must surely be one of the most litter-free cities in the world.

This all stems, Rwandans indicate, from their feeling that not much short of total perfection can atone for the country's recent history and ensure it will be remembered for something other than the 1994 genocide.

Tangible impact

The imihigo that underpins the principal Rwanda Red Cross (RRC) risk-reduction project, here in the eastern Kayonza district – a relatively dry area where food security is a major issue, is no exception.

The branch has funding until the end of 2010 from the UK Department for International Development for what has turned out to be a highly successful project for cattle stocking and animal husbandry in poor rural communities like Kabuya 1.

Out of a total of 123 cows given to villagers since 2007, 13 have calved, and the Red Cross hopes to increase the animals' reproduction rate as a way of extending the project's reach. Only five have died, one of them in labour.

In one very tangible impact, the income generated from these cows helped some villagers restore a local banana plantation.

The general nutritional situation, everyone agrees, has improved.

"It's our third annual imihigo," says branch president Anita Mutesi, who is also deputy mayor of Kayonza town in charge of social affairs.

"This year we also plan to create a 'greenhouse' on a hectare of land given to us by the district authorities. People will come and learn how to grow vegetables."

Since it's all in black and white in the imihigo, bet on it being a success.

Genocide legacy

Like many humanitarians working in the disaster risk reduction (DRR) area, Mutesi does not believe in spending too much time on the definitional issue, arguing that the flexibility of DRR is part of its beauty.

Asked directly how she interprets risk reduction in this part of Rwanda, Mutesi says simply that "we just train people to deal with what's happening in their area".

In Kayonza, that includes reforestation, renovation of water sources, wild animals straying from the Akagera national park just to the east on the Tanzanian border, and – one of the branch's proudest boasts – "eight zebra crossings" to add to seven already laid down.

It also includes dealing with the legacy of genocide.

The RRC began work with tracing and "OVC" – orphans and other vulnerable children – when Rwanda's new era started in 1994, assisting nearly 9,000 of them in a variety of ways in 2008 alone, according to the society's annual report.

More than 600, for example, got RRC vocational training in tailoring, carpentry, cooking, mechanics and – in a poor country where broken electrical appliances have to be fixed if possible – soldering.

Mutesi says that "even if you weren't there during the genocide you still feel the trauma".

Young children, she explains, somehow absorb the trauma of their parents, including the children of people who took part in the killing.

The Red Cross message, delivered mainly in schools where it undertakes psychosocial work, is simple: "We teach them how to live together," says Mutesi, "telling them 'we are all Rwandans now'."

Drought

The food-security project in Kayonza, the principal DRR programme undertaken by the Rwanda Red Cross, with Federation support, was triggered by a particularly severe drought in 2006.

Rwanda, famously the "land of a thousand hills" – some expertly terraced from foot to summit, is also one of the most densely populated countries in Africa.

Shortage of cultivable land is an ever-growing issue. Nearly half of all children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition, while more than half of all households are "food insecure" and vulnerable to fluctuations in global prices, according to UNICEF.

But food is less of a worry now for Farida Mangazina, 48, a mother of four and the proud owner of one of the magnificent Red Cross inyambo cows to give birth in Kabuya 1.

These cattle, once considered sacred in Rwanda, should produce a minimum of four litres of milk a day – an extraordinarily valuable resource for a rural family otherwise without any source of income.

Mangazina whiles away the evening brushing down "Bihogo", dodging the cow's massive horns as it clumsily flicks its head from side to side.

It's probably never a good idea to be too sentimental about farm animals. But where else do dairy cows have names? Or get their coats brushed?