By Stephanie Cappa
Stephanie Cappa is the Manager of Development Policy at InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S. based humanitarian and international development nonprofits. In this role, Ms. Cappa leads international development policy and advocacy, focusing on food security, climate change, global health, and water and sanitation. InterAction is partnering with The Council on its upcoming Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security.
Less than 20 years after the devastating genocide of 1994, when more than 800,000 people were killed in 100 days, Rwanda’s economic recovery has been impressive. Though Rwanda remains one of the poorest countries in the world, the government is following through on an ambitious roadmap for development; the country has seen 7% growth in recent years. The foundation of this recovery effort is a country-led agricultural investment plan that is aimed at helping millions of Rwanda’s subsistence farmers literally grow themselves out of poverty.
Rwanda’s plan is, in turn, supported by a number of donors, including the United States, which pledged at the 2009 G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, to scale-up support for country-driven approaches to food security, agricultural growth, and poverty reduction.
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