Economic attributes and childhood stunting in Rwanda: case study of the City of Kigali.

Introduction: stunting in under five children is a great concern in low and middle-income countries including Rwanda. While over the past decades different developing countries have made remarkable efforts improving their economic growth, there is mixed evidence and lack of consensus on the impact of economic development on nutrition improvement. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between economic attributes and childhood stunting in the City of Kigali. Methods: this was a retrospective cross-sectional and comparative study documenting the period 2010-2017. Stunting in under five children was analyzed in relation to the economic attributes which include the household consumption per capita, annual household income and level of poverty. The analysis was done at the level of district. Official reports from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda provided data on both economic attributes and stunting. Results: in some situations, the improvements in economic attributes such as increase in average household consumption per capita and increase in annual household income are followed by the reduction of stunting in under five children. However, in some other situations, the reduction of the level of poverty and the increase of annual household income was not translated into the reduction of stunting. Conclusion: improvements in some economic attributes do not necessarily translate into reduction of stunting in under five children. Further studies are needed to understand possible lead forces underlying this situation including establishing the proportion of household income spent on children´s nutrition as well as possible inequity and inequality in wealth distribution.

The environmental impacts of mining on Gishwati Protected Reserve in Rwanda.

Gishwati forest is part of Gishwati-Mukura National Park. It has a long history of degradation due to human activities. Despite many efforts initiated to restore and protect this concession, the mining activities continue to affect its biodiversity. This study aims at assessing the impact of mining on the landscape, quality of water, soil, and vegetation in Gishwati and its vicinity. Data were collected from five mining sites and one non-mined control site. Methods included direct field observations of the landscape, physico-chemical analysis of water, mine tailings analysis and vegetation inventory, and measurement of the concentrations of metals/metalloids in both water and soil (mine tailings). The findings revealed that mining has accelerated the erosion and the stream/river sedimentation and has created new landforms around some mining sites. The physico-chemical properties of mine tailings piled and scattered on mining sites are not conducive for biodiversity, and the concentrations of metals and metalloids in the water and soil are generally higher on mining sites than on the non-mined area and even higher than international standards. Such high metal/metalloid concentrations threaten both aquatic and terrestrial life as they are likely to cause the extinction of a good number of vegetation species on mining sites. They may also cause toxicity and lead to migration of a variety of animals living in Gishwati. The study recommends the use of mining best practices to safeguard biodiversity in the Gishwati area.