Food Security for 3,000 Women & Children in Rwanda

A new year has started and Kigali’s Spirulina pools are still shining bright. Brightgreen like Spirulina! Your support of YaLa Africa must have certainly turned you into Spirulina connoisseurs by now. We are sure you know all about its great nutritional properties and why it is such a good tool to fight child malnutrition, but do you know how Spirulina is actually grown? Why our growing method is sustainable and cost-efficient? Let us tell you more about the “Spirulina journey.” 

Traditionally, Spirulina is grown on commercial farms through a method way too expensive for communities or smallholder farmers to use.It is then largely destined to the health food industry, targeting athletes and other health-conscious people, and sold at very high prices.But because we were certain of the potential of this alga to fight malnutrition – as numerous research institutions and even the United Nations point out – in partnership with the NGO, JustSpirulina, we adopted a growing method that is simple, cheap and easy to pass on to others so that this protein-rich food can end up on the plates – free of charge – of those who need it the most: malnourished children.

Our Spirulina grows in a liquid solution made of water, basic fertilizers (that can also be homemade)and…well, that’s it! Once the liquid solution has been prepared and its pH level tested, you only need to stir the growing culture regularly, make sure it gets the necessary sunlight and wait for the Spirulina to multiply. When it is ready to be harvested, the liquid solution is filtered so that only Spirulina remains and it is ready to be consumed fresh in just five minutes. It can also be dried and then mixed in beverages or sprinkled onto food for a highly nutritious meal.

As little as 1-2 grams of Spirulina per day can make you feel its benefits and a single 2.5 x 2.5 meter pool can produce up to 2 kilograms of dried Spirulina per month. Can you imagine the potential yield from the two pools that we set up at our school project site? Not a math fan? That’s okay, we’ll tell you. Thanks to your support, we are able to reach up to 2,000 children per month. Furthermore, thanks to hands-on trainings for youth -who are quick to learn - our Spirulina farming method can spread easily.

But there is more. Our method also makes multiplying Spirulina easy so that once the program’s needs are reached, the surplus can be sold and ensure our micro-farms’ self-sustainability. Step by step, the Spirulina revolution in Rwanda is ongoing!

St. Andre High School in the Nyarugenge district of Kigali is one of the schools that has partnered with YaLa Africa to fight child malnutrition. It joined our program in October of last year and, since then, thanks to your donations, we have been able to provide quality seeds and training in bio-urban and bio-intensive agriculture, an organic agricultural practice that maximizes yields from a small area of land while respecting the environment by conserving water, increasing biodiversity and sustaining soil fertility. 

Ms. Augustine, the school's agronomist, meticulosly manages the gardens and works closely with Sr. Jeanne Marie, the school cook and nutritionist, who is responsible for using the fresh produce in the students' lunches, which she prepares everyday with love and care. This may look like a very simple gesture but it belies the huge problem of child malnutrition affecting this country where 38% of children (down from 43% last year) are chronically malnourished.

Imagine going to school on an empty stomach and being expected to learn...it just can't be done! It's true that many children do receive meals at home but they are often made up of starchy foods, lacking vitamins, minerals and proteins that kids need to develop into strong and healthy adults. So while their bellies may feel full, in reality malnutrition is still lurking making it impossible for children to properly grow and learn.

Thanks to the produce from the gardens, we have been able to diversify student meals on a daily basis. While the vitamins and minerals come from the fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the gardens, the protein comes from a recent program addition, precisely, a low-cost aquaculture called Spirulina: a seaweed that is 55% protein-rich, which can be mixed into the students' lunches for an extra energy boost.

Augustine and Jeanne Marie are learning all about growing and consuming Spirulina and are eager to start using it in the school lunches to see their hard work put to good use! Sound good? But it doesn't stop here...

The Spirulina farm set up at St. Andre has quickly attracted attention and curiosity from the student body. After all, a strange green liquid never before seen has been cohabitating with them for some time now, placidly sitting there next to the vegetable garden, unbeknownst to the sprouts...and seems to have permanently and contentedly set up camp in the middle of their school campus! Where does it come from?...And what could it possibly be? At least, this is what the students have been wondering and asking. 

Our mission is to empower youth to bring about change in their communities in simple yet concrete ways, including through nutrition education. But, as is usually the case, the eager youth are already one step ahead of us! Before we even had a chance to organize nutrition workshops, they came to us wanting to know and learn. Once we explained what Spirulina was, how cheap and easy it was to grow, and how it could be used with the micro-gardens to fight child malnutrition at the community level, they were ready to take on the challenge! "We can organize trainings and start youth clubs to popularize it [Spirulina]," said Christian, "I will be able to sensitize my family and community about the importance of Spirulina." 

Working with schools and youth gives us hope that the cycle of malnutrition and poverty will one day be broken. In the meantime, we will do everything we can to provide healthy meals and nutrition education to feed both the body and the mind. We made a promise to Christian that we will soon organize trainings for teachers and students at St. Andre High School so that he and his classmates may contribute to fighting malnutrition through peer training, awareness raising and nutrition education in Kigali and beyond. With your help, we have no doubt that we will be able to keep this promise. 

Thank you for your support!