Rwanda - Review of the impact on women of the Mutara agricultural project

110 NOTES ON WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT NO. 31 RWANDA REVIEW OF THE IMPACT ON WOMEN OF THE MUTARA AGRICULTURAL PROJECT Office of the Advisor on Women in Development World Bank April 1984 RWANDA REVIEW OF THE IMPACT ON WOMEN OF THE MUTARA AGRICULTURAL PROJECT Contents Introduction A. Description of the OVAPAM Project 1. The Project 2. Crop Farming Component 3. Stockraising Component B. The Survey 1. Timetable 2. Sample 3. Personnel C. Crop Farming Component: Raw Results D. Stockraising Component: Raw Results E. Free Discussions F. Conclusions RWANDA REVIEW OF THE IMPACT ON WOMEN OF THE MUTARA AGRICULTURAL PROJECT Introduction This review is part of a four-country study on the impact of Bank financed development projects on women, undertaken by the office of the Adviser on Women in Development of the World Bank. These studies in turn will contribute to an inter-agency report designed to appraise the achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women. The project chosen for study in Rwanda was the Mutara Agricultural Project (Credit No. 937) a project covering two different settlement situations for crop farming and for livestock raising as described in Section A. Section B describes the survey which included structured interviews applying a questionnaire to 96 women in the two project zones, complemented by some free flowing interviews with five other women from each of the two areas. Parts C and D presents the raw results respectively on the crop farming and livestock raising sectors. While the free discussions were used to illustrate the interview findings in Parts C and D, information from them is summarized in Part E. Brief conclusions are contained in Part F. While there was no base line data against which to assess changes brought about by the project, the survey brings together first hand -2- information on the status of women in Mutara and their perceptions about the project, information which could be useful in designing similar projects in the future. The survey was conducted over a period of eight weeks in February/March 1984. The team leader for the survey was Mm. M.H. Salat-Desgranges (consultant). She was assisted by Ms. Eugenie Bukara who was seconded by the National Population Office (ONAPO) for this purpose. Two social workers were in charge of field supervision and the 10 interviewers were female graduate social workers (assistantes sociales) with survey experience from a fertility survey conducted by ONAPO. A. Description of the OVAPAM Project, The Project Although the idea of carrying out a large-scale farming and stockraising project in the Mutara region dates back to the 1950s, the administrative and technical structures were not actually set up until 1974. Project management was entrusted to OVAPAM (Office de Valorization Pastorale et Agricole du Mutara---Mutara Agricultural and Stockraising Development Office), a parastatal agency. The project has the following objectives: - improvement of the living conditons of the crop farmers and stockraisers; - soil protection measures; - herd improvement; - farming/stockraising association. The project has two parts, one focusing on crop farmers (paysannats component) and the other on stockraisers (group ranch component). 4 For the crop farmer component, the objectives are to settle new families in this hitherto sparsely populated area and in particular to introduce selected seed. Another goal is to gradually integrate stockraising with crop farming. The farmers who were living there before the project, especially in Ngarama, were included on the same footing as the new settlers. The stockraising component aims above all at making the nomadic herders sedentary through communal ranching, improved grazing and zootechnical extension. Crop Farming Component The area covered by the component (35,000 ha) is divided into four sections: - Rukomo and the Nyabwishongozi project extension area - Karama Ngarama - Cyabayaga. The largest of these is Rukomo as it represents 5,049 of the 12,000 families in the component; in particular, 900 refugee families from Burundi have been settled there. This was the first section established and is where the administrative 'services of the component are located. This crop farming area includes parts of two townships (communes), Muvumba and Ngarama. -5 One interesting experiment conducted under the project was the establishment of "farmettes," involving the provision of a pregnant cow to a farmer against a livestOck credit. The cow produces milk and fertilizer for the family. Onrr hundred and sixty farmettes have already been established (of which 100 in Rukomo) and the project is rapidly expanding. Each farmer has 2 ha for crops. However, as the family compost heap is not sufficient to fertilize all the land, the livestock credit has been devised to help the farmer acquire a cow if he meets a number of conditions. First, he has to have at least 30 ares of forage crops (upon aquisition 15 ares suffice) and agree to make repayments on a six-monthly basis following harvest. Payments are postponed if there is no harvest, provided that this is not the fault of the farmer. If the cow dies, he is given another one, after a veterinarian certifies that the farmer was not responsible for the animal's death. The small farmers grow food crops--25 ha have been turned into demonstration fields. The products are marketed through OPROVIA (the state-owned National Office for the Development and Marketing of Food and Livestock Products). Two large storehouses have been built for this purpose. There are five schools and a health center staffed by a medical assistant, three nurses and other personnel. In the opinion of the medical assistant, the most common illnesses treated at the center are malaria, diseases caused by worms, and bronchitis, followed closely by injuries of all types, often the result of fights between people of different ethnic backgrounds. Next come flu, childbirth, vaccinations and the like. The - 6 - center receives on average some hundred patients per day, i.e., between 2,500 and 3,000 per month. Water was mentioned frequently as a problem. A number of public standpipes are broken and endless lines form at the few that work. It is common to wait in line for hours to fill a 20-liter jerrycan. This situation should improve with the AIDR (International Association for Overseas Rural Development) water supply project in Rukomo, a project rendered essential by the presence of the 900 refugee families. Stockraising Component The second component of the OVAPAM project involves stockraising, specifically designed to settle the Bahima nomadic herders who migrate between Uganda and Tanzania. The area covered by the component (34,000 ha) is divided into five sections: - Nyagatare - Rwempasha - Tabagwe - Musheli - Cyonyo. Each section covers 6,000 to 8,000 ha and 1,600 families have ben settled there (400 in Cyonyo). The longest-settled area is Nyagatare (1975); Cyonyo, the most recent, dates back to 1980. These families live on 74 group ranches, each having its own village. The size of the ranch depends on the topography, but the number of stockfarmers living there depends on the number of animals they own, now one head per ha. In addition to the grazing, which is used communally, each family receives a 1.5 ha plot to encourage them to grow crops, in which former nomads have very little interest. However, some who had fled to Uganda in 1974 when efforts were made to make them sedentary sought to rejoin the project in 1979. This component also includes a holding ranch (ranch d'attente) where animals purchased from the communal ranches are kept. They are sold there, generally to OPROVIA which then markets them, primarily in Kigali. One hundred head are delivered to OPROVIA per week. The holding ranch is also used for animals that are to be purchased by crop farmers using livestock credits. There is also a breeding ranch which has 413 head and produces livestock for sale in the rural areas, in general by crossing Sahiwals with local Ankoles, since the latter have not degenerated and can be as large as 300 kg. There is also a dairy with a capacity of 2,000 liters/day, although it is under-utilized because of a lack of potential clientele. The dairy also makes butter. A slaughterhouse built to accomMudate 30 to 50 head/day is used to slaughtering animals that have been injured but are still edible. At -8 present there are no refrigerated trucks to transport the slaughterhouse products. The meat is sold to the local population. The scarcity of wood, due,in particular to the abundance of termites, is a problem. Since firewood is unavailable locally it must be purchased in Uganda. For this component, OVAPAM has built four primary schools and a hospital. The roads serving the villages are all linked with the main road and four bridges have been built. B. The World Bank Survey The worst problem encountered by the survey team was travel time, as a 15-km distance on the map would sometimes mean more than an hour's travel. It was therefore decided that the four sections in the crop farmer component and the five sections in the stockraising component would not be surveyed systematically, but rather representative sections would be chosen (an old settlement or a recent settlement, etc.). The first phase of the survey was conducted in the crop farming area where 48 women were interviewed starting in Rukomo, the largest section in the crop farmer component. Rukomo is somewhat of a pilot area to the extent that all the project's administrative, social and health structures (including the diary) are located there. A number of women interviewed were refugees from Burundi, some of whom had been there since 1973. Although most of the people had been living there since the start of the project (1974) or even earlier, only four women had been in Rukomo since 1983. This was therefore considered a long settled area. The second phase of the survey took place in Mukama and Cyabayaga, both recently settled. Only three of the 12 women interviewed in Mukama had been living there before 1980. The third phase of the survey was in the stockraising sector, where five ranches, Baliza, Rutare II, Nshuli, Kiyombu, and Karumura, were visited and 48 women interviewed. On Karumura ranch Bahima women, an ethnic group peculiar to Rwanda and the principal target of the project's "sedentarization" program, were interviewed. As the statistical profile of the population in question could not be precisely ascertained, the informints were surveyed on the basis of two criteria: family status and age: - They had to be "the wife of the head household" or the "head of household themselves" (widowed or separated). - Two age categories were established: women over 35 and women under 35. This resulted in four categories: - 10 - - Women under 35 living with their "husbands" - Women under 35 who were heads of household - Women over 35 living with their "husbands" - Women over 35 who were heads of household. Another criterion, the relative age of the settlement, was not used because generally speaking, each section was self-led at a specific time. This criterion was thus automatically taken into account for each section surveyed. The questionnaire is available in both French (original) and English. C. Crop Farming Components As noted above, the first interview (Questionnaires 1 to 48) were conducted in the crop farming sector. We give here the raw results from those questionnaires. Although studied in detail in Section E, the free discussions will be used to illustrate the analyses of the questionnaires when the topics covered were also touched upon during those discussions. - 11-- I. Description of the Sample 48 women were interviewed in three different sections. 22 of them were over 35 (the oldest was 68). 26 of them were under 35 (the youngest was 20). The average age of the women interviewed was: 49 for women over 35 28 for women under 35 37 for the sample as a whole. II. Origin Of the 48 women interviewed, seven were from Burundi and 41 were Rwandese. Their origin by prefecture was: From: Byumba 27 Ruhengeri 8 Kigali 2 Gisenyi 2 Gitarama 1 Kibuye 1 All of the women from Burundi were living in Rukomo, where refugees from Burundi had settled since the beginning of OVAPAM. The number of women from Byumba is easily explicable since this is the prefecture where the OVAPAM project is located. It is therefore - 12' - logical that, upon the launching of the project in 1973, the inhabitants of Byumba wanted to join the program. It was generally those who had no hope of owning land in Byumba or who had plots too small who agreed to settle in the Mutara region. Ruhengeri prefecture ranks second, although located far from Mutara. This prefecture in northwestern Rwanda has the highest population density of 447 for cultivable land alone in 1978 compared with 234 in Byumba and 367 for Rwanda as a whole.1/ It is therefore not surprising that a fairly large number came from Ruhengeri, since the scarcity of land was even more acute there than in the rest of the country. The year of arrival differs enormously. In Rukomo, the area settled first, with 1976 considered the cutoff between the oldest settlement wave and recent periods: 13 women had settled before 1976 11 women settled after 1976. Mukama is a recently settled area, while Cyabayaga was settled some time ago and only two of the informants there had arrived after 1981. 1/ Sources: Atlas Q anda, Prioul, C. and Sirven, P., Associaton pour l'Atlas,des Pays &ii Loire, Kigali, Paris, Nantes, 1981. - 13 - III. Marital Status In the crop farming component, the marital status of the 48 women interviewed was as follows: widowed, separated married women over 35 6 16 women under 35 3 23 Total 9 39 For the 39 "married" women: 25 were legally married; 14 were cohabitating with their "spouse" without having been legally married. It would thus appear that legal marriage predominates. Of the 14 cases of cohabitation, 13 involved young women under 35, perhaps suggesting that the "husband" had not yet, given his age, had the time to accumulate enough savings for a real marriage (price of the dowry). Another explanation could be that the older people were reluctant to say that they were not legally married even though they had been living with their companion for 20 or 30 years or because they considered themselves properly married. The number of legal marriages probably would be lower in reality. The number of children living with the families was: 2.95 for women over 35 2.46 for women under 35 2.69 for the group as a whole. These figures will be referred to again in the section on the number of births. They represent only the number of children currently living in the household and not those to whom the woman has given birth. The women were also asked about polygamy. Of the 48 responses, only 32 were recorded because 16 of the women were widows. Twenty-five of the 32 marriages were monogamous and seven polygamous, although eacb involved only two wives. This is consistent with the most common marriage structure in Rwanda, which is monogamy. Of the seven polygamous marriages, six involved women over 35 but one included a 31-year old woman married to a 33-year old driver. This household is further atypical because the wife at 31 years old had already had eight children and there were five other people living in the house, including the husband's second wife, giving a total of 15 people. This was, moreover, the only case in which the two wives of the head of household lived under the same roof. In the six other cases of polygamy, the second wife did not live with the one interviewed. Thw women were also asked about family structure. Forty households were mononuclear, i.e., father, mother and children or widowed - 15 - mother and children. This is moreover the predominant structure in Rwanda. With the exception of the instance indicated above, the other eight households, which were not necessarily polynuclear since the questions referred to people normally living in the household and would therefore include domestic help, included only one additional person (six cases) or two (one case). Contrary to expectations, except in two cases, the additional persons were not living with the widows. The survey of the marital status of this population thus revealed that monogamous marriage with a mononuclear family was by far the most common state. In addition, marriage was usually "legal," or at least considered as such, Widows live alone with their children and only rarely had other people to help take care of their households. IV. Housing Four criteria were used to describe housing: - size of house - construction materials for walls - roofing materials - wall finishing. Size of House A house was considered "small" if the sum of the length and width was less than 10 m, "average" if the sum was between 10 and 13 m and "large" if it was greater than 13 m. For circular houses, the ground area -16- was compared with rectangular houses covering the same area. There were thus: - 19 small houses - 16 average houses - 13 large houses. For the 14 largest families (six or more children), there was no direct relationship between size of family and size of house since only half of them (7) lived in a "large" house. Three of them with six, seven, and eight children each even lived in "small" houses. Wall Materials Forty-four houses out of 48 were built of woven branches, called arbres (trees) locally. The four remaining houses were made of unbaked brick. Thus not a single house occupied by the households surveyed was made of hard-burned brick. The shape of the houses varied, but the most common was rectangular. Wall Finishing To make them watertight, the walls were usually covered with clay (44 houses), which gives a brownish appearance to the houses. The walls of three houses were covered with cement. More expensive than clay, it provides a white finish (questionnaire 20 was not useable). - 17 - Roofing Materials Roofing materials were less traditional, as 29 houses used sheet metal. Sixteen of them were covered with straw and only three had tiles. Thus, although the settlers mostly used traditional branches for the walls, they used sheet metals for roofing. In short, the most common type of housing in this component was a rather small dwelling, the length and width of which together totaled 10 m, constructed of branches with an outer layer of clay and covered by a sheet metal roof. Additional Facilities In Rwanda houses are clustered along with outbuildings in an enclosed compound called the rgo which is generally surrounded by a hedge of euphorbia. The women were asked whether or not three types of outbuildings were present: - kitchen - latrines - livestock shelters. Another question involved the presnce of a composting facility. This is a practice that OVAPAM is seeking to develop in order to enrich the soil. The existence of livestock shelters is relevant only to the 23 crop-farmer families that had livestock. Of these 23, 22 had livestock shelters. Household 8, a 60-year old widow who lived alone with her five children and owned one goat, .was the only exception. As for the other facilities, of the 48 households: - 28 had a kitchen - 39 had latrines - 32 had a compost heap. Twenty-five of the 28 households with kitches also had latrines. Only four households had no facilities: a single woman of 29 from Burundi, with two small dependent children, and three families settled in the last few months had not had time to put up any outside facilities. It thus appears that OVAPAM's efforts to publicize latrines and compost heaps have not been in vain as they have become widely accepted. However, an important trend, which does not emerge from the recorded responses but only from field observation, is that the families of refugees from Burundi are reluctant to devote time and money to their housing. They are not secure about their future, and this is apparent in their housing. Having been driven out of Burundi in 1973, they are somewhat afraid of being expelled from Rwanda and do not feel at home, even though they speak the same language (with a few variants) as the Rwandese. This will be discussed further. - 19 - V. Water Water is one of the most problematic issues in the OVAPAM project. In addition to those about the distribution of water duties, questions were asked on the quality of water services. There is clearly underlying dissatisfaction as well as a very real need. Who Fetches the Water? This point was divided into two different parts. First, who fetches the water for the family and second, who fetches the water for the livestock. It could be assumed that water for the livestock would be drawn from springs or the Muvumba River, whereas water for human consumption would be piped in and therefore potable, wherever the households had that option. Fetching water for domestic use was woman's work and the divisions of labor seemed very rigid. In half the cases the woman interviewed was responsible, and in 11 cases, the women or another member of the household (husband, child) performed this chore. Thus, in 35 out of 48 cases the woman fetched water exclusively or in turn with another person. The children were also responsible for fetching water but generally when they were grown (11) cases. One household, a couple over 60 years old without children, employed a servant. In the household of a young couple with a small child, it was the husband who fetched the water. - 20 -' For watering the animals, only the 23 households raising livestock were questioned. Here again, the wife alone was responsible for getting water in 10 of the 23 households or shared that chore with someone else (four cases). The children were involved in eight cases and a servant in one case. Thus, in answer to the question "Who fetches the water"? we obtained the following data: For the Household For the Livestock the woman alone 24 10 the woman taking turns with someone else 11 4 the children 11 8 the husband 1 0 the servant 1 1 Total 48 23 How Much Water is Used Daily? The amount of water used by the family varies greatly and depends primarily on household size. The responses were generally given in multiples of 20 liters, as the most common container is a 20-liter plastic jerrycan. Multiples of 12 liters were also mentioned since in Rwanda a plastic pail with that capacity, manufactured locally by Mironko Plastics Industries, is frequently used. - 21 - The responses ranged from five liters of (ater used per day by a childless couple to 100 liters, which is clearly too high since the household consisted of a single woman with three children. On average, the families used 36 liters of water per day, i.e., about two 20-liter jerrycans. The water was most frequently kept in the jerrycan during the day (35 households out of 47) or possibly poured into an earthenware pitcher. How Long Does it Take to Fetch Water? The responses to the question "How long does it take to fetch water"? shed further light on the critical problem of water in Mutara. There is a distinction between Rukomo and the two other sections. As Rukomo has a potable water system, people prefer to get their water from the public standpipes. Since these work poorly or not at all, people, mostly women, wait in line for hours to fill the family jerrycan, and lines of several dozen jerrycans accumulate in front of the standpipes. The following figures are for Rukomo: Time Taken Each Day Number of Households to Fetch Water 3 5 hours and over 6 4 to 5 hours 2 2-1/2 hours and over 7 1 to 2-1/2 hours 6 Less than one hour - 22 - The time spent on fetching water was clearly too long: 11 people out of 24 spent more than 2-1/2 hours a day on this task. In the extreme cases of four hours and over, it was often the children and not the women who went to the standpipes, suggesting that children are sent to fetch water in the morning, and loitered. In the other areas, little time was spent in fetching water. As there was no piped water supply, the people generally used springs. They consequently did not wait long but the water obtained was highly unsatisfactory, as discussed below. Except for six households out of 24 who spent more than one hour, all the others spent less than an hour a day on fetching water. The problems surrounding water supply are thus straightforward: - For Rukomo: long wait, but clean water. - For the other two areas: no wait, but impure water. What Problems Do You Have With Water? With five exceptions, all of the women interviewed said that they had problems witiL water, the problems being different between Rukomo and the other areas. In Rukomo, the women often cited several problems. They said that there was not enough water to go around and that the wait was too - 23 - long. They often added that the standpipes were too far away (the long time spent in fetching water could include walking time). The impurity of the water was mentioned by those who went to draw "dubious" water from a spring. In the other two sections, the majority complained about the impurity of the water. These families obtained water from springs or the river and were fully aware of the health problems entailed. Conclusions on Water Problems The water problem, in all cases due to supply difficulties, is critical for'the women in Mutara. In the last part of the questionnaire, when the women were asked about their worst problem, water was often mentioned. In the free discussion this matter was often raised also. Areas with piped water supply are not adequately served and people complained about the long waits. In areas without piped water supply, the people of course complained that they had to depend on contaminated spring water. They were very well aware of the health hazards caused by non-potable water. VI. Problem with Wood The problems wJth firewood supply appeared less acute than those involving water. In general, the women interviewed were responsible for fetching wood (28 households). -24- Who Fetches the Wood? No. of Households woman interviewed 28 woman interviewed taking turns with someone else 7 child 8 husband 3 wood is purchased 2 The question relating to the time spent each day collecting wood did not lead to noteworthy conclusions. There was no rule in-this regard and people went every day or once or twice a week to collect wood, depending on the proximity of the trees. No generalizations can therefore be made. However, when asked "How has the OVAPAM project helped you with cooking"? 30 women responded that the project was not doing anything for them. Fourteen women were aware of OVAPAM's reforestation activities and said that OVAPAM replanted trees or provided saplings. Most people were unaware both of OVAPAM efforts to prevent deforestation and of the scarcity of wood in Africa. The need for better stoves was never mentioned. VII. Use of Time The informants were asked how they had spent their time the preceding day. The activities had to be described hour by hour, with several possible responses. 25 - The responses were grouped into four categories: 1. Non-productive activities - sleeping, resting - eating - visiting - religious services, mass, catechism - meetings, promotional gatherings (animation) 2. Farming activities - going to the fields - working in the fields - taking care of livestock 3. Domestic activities - household chores - fetching water - collecting wood - making objects for the house 4. Other activities - making objects for sale - marketing - other activities. -26- - Two women were ill, one was away from home so three questionnaires will not be taken into account here. Non-Productive Activities The lowest number of hours that the women were not engaged in productive activities was nine hours and the maximum 17 hours. Four women spent only nine or ten hours per day resting in the broad sense of the term, which is very little. Most of them (27) had between 11 and 13 hours of "rest" a day, although 14 women cited more than 14 hours in that category. The average for the sample was 12.86 hours of "rest" per day, i.e. about one hour out of two. Farming Activities An average of 5.9 hours per day was spent on farming activities, including liv stock care, for those families that owned livestock. Three women had not worked in the fields on the preceding day. The working day for the others ranged from one hour to 11 hours, which is a large spread. Of the women who had worked 10 hours or more: one was a young widow of 29 with three children, as the only breadwinner, her workday was very long; a married woman of 46 with six children; a married woman of 25 - 27 - who did not yet have children, and who was therefore more available for work in the fields. Domestic Activities In general, with only a few exceptions, the total number of hours spent on domestic and agricultural activities remained constant. Thus, women who spent little time in the fields spent more time at domestic tasks, and vice versa. Two women had not performed any domestic tasks. As for the rest of the sample, the spread ranged from two to 15 hours. The average was 5.42 hours, i.e., a little less than the average spent on farming activities. Other Activities Only two informants mentioned other activities, one hour marketing; five hours attending a trial. In summary, the working day as described here is: - non-productive activities 12.86 hours - farming activities 5.9 - domestic activities 5.42 Total 24.18 (rounded off to 24 hrs.) - 28' - VIII. Activities of the Husband It was not possible to obtain data on the husband's work by asking questions about how he spent the preceding day as he was in no case to be present at the interview. The responses of the women are therefore subject to this caveat. In households where the woman was not a widow, the questions simply concerned the activities of the husband in several areas: - work in the fields - livestock care - household activities - fetching water - collecting wood - making objects,for sale (crafts) - marketing - other activities. Only 39 households were surveyed (nine women were widows). In general, the husband worked in the fields (32 heads of household out of 39), and spent little time on the other activities. For the 23 households with animals, the husband took care of them in only 11 cases. Domestic chores were performed by the husband only in six households. For water and wood supply, the husband was sometimes - 29' - involved (in 13 households for water, in ten for wood). Furthermore, when the husband fetched the water, he also collected the wood. There are a number of contradictions between these responses and the answers to the question "Who fetches the water?" Although in general there were no errors when the woman responded that anyone in the household fetched the water (the husband could therefore do it), in eight cases there was a contradiction when the woman said that she alone did the work (or a child or a servant) and later said that her husband also fetched water. The most likely explanation is that it is the woman's responsibility to fetch water, and she therefore responded by saying that she alone was the one to do it, while in practice the husband will sometimes help if the woman is too busy doing something else. In none of the households was the husband an artisan. He did the marketing in ten of the households questioned.- A question was asked to ascertain how many were farmers and how many were engaged in other occupatiOns. Out of 39 households: - 31 heads of household were farmers - 1 tradesman - 1 "district chief" (administrative) - 30-- - 3 employed by the OVAPAM project (gardener, extension agent, etc.) - 1 employed by the DERVAM project (Canadian project involving the same townships as the OVAPAM project, but aimed at developing rice-growing in the swamplands) - 2 masons. IX. Agricultural Production and Stockraising Crops The crops raised did not differ much from one household to another. In general, people in the Mutara region grow: cassava, beans, maize, sorghum, groundnuts, sweet potatoes and bananas. Several families had started new crops such as peas, soybeans, fiten butf n a whole the harvests were very traditional and centered on popular products in Rwanda. Tools Some tools were used more specifically by a given sex. For example, pruning knives and sickles were always used by men (except in the case of widows). Winnowing baskets were typically used by women. The hoe was used by both sexes. It was found that very few, and very simple tools, were used in agricultural production. In addition to the four basic tools mentioned above (pruning knife, sickle, hoe and winnowing basket), the machete or knife was also used for specific tasks (cutting off banana leaves, for example). Division of Labor The division of labor was not very clear-cut between the various tasks. The general trend was that normally, the man cleared the land, while the woman did the weeding and sowing. However, plowing and harvesting were often done by both together. These distinctions do not of course exist in the case of widows. New Techniques The normal field size was 2 ha. This is the OVAPAM standard size for -ny new operation, However, some fields (13) were smaller than 2 ha. Nine of the women interviewed did not know how large their property was. The women were asked whether new farming methods had been accepted in Mutara. - The most frequent practice was crop rotation, as 44 out of the 48 households used this method with which only four were not complying. - 32 - - Soil conservation and erosion control are catching on in Mutara, as 38 households responded in the affirmative to this question. - Two other techniques, row seeding, fertilizer and composts, were used by about half the households. - However, only 16 households used selected seed. It would appear that this number used to be higher, but some people had become discouraged and stopped using the selected seed. Farmettes Seven of the households lived on "farmettes." As explained earlier, the farmette, a model farm in the Mutara region, associates crop farming with the raising of a cow to provide the farmers with milk and fertilizer, and on these households: No. of Cows No. of Calves Livestock Care Other Animals Owned 1 1 husband chickens 1 1 husband or wife chickens 1 0 husband sheep 1 0 husband or wife goat 1 0 husband 1 0 husband or wife 1 0 husband or wife sheep & goat - 33 - Thus, in general, the husband was responsible for taking care of the cows, whether or not he was helped by his wife. These households often kept small animals as well. The women rarely owned small animals personally, not even chickens or goats. As for veterinary services, although the model farmers were for the most part satisfied with the care provided, they nevertheless did not like having to travel egularly for vetrinary care and would prefer that the veterinary services make more regular rounds. Small Animals Several other households (16) raised small animals. These were generally chickens, sheep and goats. The women took care of the chickens, which were always few in number and sometimes their personal property. Sheep are cared for by men and women, and two informants had their own sheep. Goats were the children's responsibility. Little profit was earned from raising these small animals. the eggs were eaten by the household and rarely sold. Goat's milk was consumed by only one family. -34.-- Beer-making All the households interviewed made their own beer, normally from bananas. The woman never did this work alone; either she was assisted by her husband (21 households) or she left it entirely in his hands (20 households). X. Health Status In order to ascertain the health status of the women inteviewed, they were asked about: - their most frequent illness - the most frequent illness suffered by their children. * Malaria was clearly common, as 39 out of 48 were victims. In many instances, the region was blamed for having caused the disease, as the women had had fewer problems with malaria when they were living elsewhere. This could not be verified but indeed it seems that there are more mosquitoes here because the area has been recently settled and there are many swamps. The other medical problems cited were: - worm infestiations (verminoses), in eight instances - ENT disorders, in three instances. With respect to their children, the women naturally mentioned malaria (six instances) but also reported a high incidence of worm infestations (14 instances). -35. - As a rule, the women are aware of the existence of the Health Center and go there for care. Only eight women had not sought care, but of them, five had arrived in Mutara in 1983 and 1984; they might not yet have needed the services provided by the Health Center. The Health Center primarily treats malaria attacks (mentioned 32 times), but the women also go there to give birth (five instances) or for prenatal checkups (seven instances). Several specific medical problems (tuberculosis, astham, "mental problems") were also mentioned. XI. Fertility and Birth Control Age at Marriage Women in Rwanda marry fairly late in comparison with most other African countries. The average age at marriage of the two age groups under consideration--18.45 for those over 35 and 17.55 for those under 35--shows a trend to marry at a younger age, but as the sample was small no conclusions can be drawn., There were 11 early marriages (at 15 and 16) and five later marriages (21 and over). The average age at marriage in Rwanda is 22 for women,2/ while the survey findings point to a much younger age in Mutara. 2/ Rwanda Economic Memorandum, Recent Economic and Sectoral Developments and Current Policy Issues, World Bank, 1983. - 36- Number of Births The women were asked about the number of children they had borne and the number of those still alive. These responses should not be confused with those reported in Question III above, which reflect only the number of children normally living in the household (the difference is particularly marked in the case of elderly couples whose married children no longer live with their parents). Two age categories were used: women under or over 49, the official age used by WHO to mark statistically the end of the childbearing years. Average No. of Births Average No. of Living Children women over 49 8.1 5.1 women under 49 5.4 3.8 It is not surprising that women under 49 had fewer children as they were still in their childbearing years. In any event, in both cases, the women lost many children during early childhood, on average three out of every eight, which is high. These figures differ from those for Rwanda as a whole: - Average number of children per woman - Rwanda 8.3 - Sample 8.1 - Infant mortality - Rwanda 137 per 1000 - Sample 375 per 1000 -37 - This can be explained in one or two ways: - The sample is not representative of the population under study (statistical explanation); - The women now living in Mutara were very underprivileged in their region of origin and over the years have accumulated problems related to health and poverty (socio-demographic explanation). It is unfortunately not possible to conclude which of the two explanations is the valid one. Pregnancies Not Carried to Term Of the 48 women, 24, i.e., one out of two, had had one or more pregnancies that were not carried to term. In general, this was a single miscarriage, but some women had up to three. Breastfeeding and Weaning The women who already had children were asked at what age they began to give solid food to their children and at what age the children were completely weaned. In general, the children took their first solid food at 7.2 months and were completely weaned at 23 months. However, several women - 38 -. continued to nurse their children for a long time (three years). The interval between births for all women nursing their children for more than 30 months was at least three years. However, these women typically had large families of nine, ten and even 11 children. The relationship between longer periods of nursing and fewer children therefore does not hold here. There was no marked difference in weaning between young mothers and older ones. Family Planning The questions on birth control and family planning were prepared in close cooperation with ONAP, which was very interested in the findings of the survey on this point. The first question concerned the number of children desired by the woman during her married life. In many cases, especially among the older women, the answer was that "God alone decides and we must accept His will However, on average, the women wanted 6.13 children each, which is high, in view of the demographic problems faced by Rwanda. Some women wanted to have up to 10 or 11 children. The women were aware of the space constraints and population pressures in Rwanda. This emerged in particular during the free discussions. The messages disseminated by radio are therefore having at least partial success because the women clearly said that something had to be done to limit the number of children they had. However, their vision of the ideal family size was not at all consistent with this line of thinking. There is, however, a more optimistic trend: large families with more than ten children were desired mainly by older women, while the younger generation was more reserved. In fact, 11 out of 26 younger women wanted to have four children at most. The following table classifies by age group the number of children desired: Number of Children Desired as a Function of the Woman's Age Women Under 35 Women Over 35 2 or 37children 4 2 4 children 7 0 5 or 6 children 8 5 7 to 9 children 5 1 10 and more children 2 6 Only nine out of the 48 women said they discussed this issue with their husbands. Most frequently the couples did not discuss the issue of family size, which is considered the domain of the woman. This indicates that the concept of birth control in Rwanda is meeting resistance, as not only the woman but both partners have to be involved, which does not seem to be the case. The last question regarding family planning was "Do you think you will get in touch with the services that can help you have the number of children you want"? The comments on the subject are fairly eloquent and the women were aware of family planning through information broadcast on -40 - the radio but said that Mutara had no such services. In addition, as shown in the free discussion, the idea of harmful side effects from contraceptive methods, in particular injections;, was firmly implanted. It therefore appears that some women would be receptive to family planning but do not know where to find information. Moreover, porgrams should definitely reach out to the women and not wait until they make the first move. Indeed, the women are interested in family planning and 24 said that they would seek such assistance "one day," meaning that they are receptive to the idea, but not about to seek it actively. In no case was the response "No, my husband does not want me to go to see them" obtained. Some women said that they were not interested in family planning. Very often that answer was given by women who were beyond their childbearing years or nearly so and who,therefore no longeL had a stake in the issue. There were not many contradictions in the responses. With the exception of two cases, all women wanting at most four children responded that they would seek such services. However, only four women said that they were pregnant. To sum up the findings on family planning, the Rwandese women were generally aware of the problems that Rwanda will face if its rate of population growth is not curbed. They also wanted information on birth contro', and seemed rather receptive to ONAPO activities, as their awareness had already been considerably raised through the radio. However, their notion of the ideal family was in total disagreement with these ideas as it - 41-- included at least six children. There is thus a blatant contradiction and it is difficult to see how the situation will develop. XII. Nutritional Problems It is truly exceptional today for women to refuse to eat a food because it is taboo. However, one or two generations ago, many foods were still forbidden. Only four women said that they could not eat certain foods: - One woman never ate beans when she was pregnant and was forbidden to eat either eggs or chicken (48 years old). - No beans during pregnancy (woman 60 years old). - Animal liver taboo (woman 29 years old). - Goat's meat which made women grow beards (woman 61 years old). It is fortunate that these food taboos are becoming outdated as the women can eat a more balanced diet. Nevertheless, during certain periods of the year there is a severe food shortage. This generally occurs from April to May and from October to November, when the previous harvests are nearly depleted and/or the new ones are not yet available. This is the "bridging" season, which is apparently very difficult here. -42~- To the question "Do you eat differently now with the project"? 25 women said that things were in fact different now: - 13 said that their production had increased in volume thanks to the advisory assistance provided by OVAPAM; - 4 mentioned better prices and the existenc':f markets that regulated those prices; - 5 mentioned an improvement in the quality of their food (more variety, new products). However, 17 women did not think that their diet had changed since they had moved to the Mutara region. XIII. Personal Income of the Wives Apart from widows, in most cases the wives had no personal income. The widows stated that they obtained most of their income from sales of livestock and eggs. Two of them worked for pay in other households. Only two married women declared that they had their own resources. One sold beans and sorghum for her own account. The other woman sold the same products plus fruit and maize. Each earned around RwF 5,000 a year. -43- XIV. Literacy Only eight of the women interviewed know how to read and write. There is thus enormous room for progress in this sector. Moreover, they were all under 36. Of the 40 illiterate women, only one was going to literacy classes. When asked why they did not want to learn to read, the women gave the following replies: "I don't have time, I have too much work" (seven responses) "I'm too old to learn" (16 responses) "There is no school near my home" (nine responses) "Not interested" (two responses) Here again, not one of the inteviewees said that her husband has withheld his approval. With respect to the school enrollment rate for children, out of 62 children aged seven to 16, 33 were attending primary school and 29 did not go to school. XV. Associations The Mutara women participate very little in associations: three belong to savers' associations and two each to farmers and housing improvement associations. However, many women feel a very definite need to join and organize groups that would make life easier for them, as noted below. -44 - XVI. Farmer Training Eighteen of the women interviewed had taken part in farmer training sessions and had learned to improve their stockraising or farming operation. On the other hand, the women would be very interested in training courses exclusively for women, either because the topics taught did not interest them any more, or because they would feel more relazed without men present. A total of 39 women would like to have sessions for women only. The topics they would like to see offered are numerous, but certain preferences emerge: No. of Responses * - literacy 6 - marital counseling: a woman's role 4 - child-rearing 7 - sewing, needlework 3 - how to set up associations 2 - nutritional issues 3 - family planning 3 XVII. The Future of Mutara It was interesting to find out, even before asking the women about the shortcomings of OVAPAM, whether they knew of the existence of this project and were aware of its goals. -45-- Only 11 of the 48 women did not know about OVAPAM or its purposes. The others all had some idea of its goals: - 24 believed that OVAPAM was designed to improve agriculture and stockraising (this response was the closest to the actual goals); - 9 thought that OVAPAM's role was to give plots of land to people without any land at all; - 3 women mentioned the construction of schools, health clinics and roads. Thus OVAPAM is an agency that is known generally. Its goals are also well perceived by the population. When the women were asked what should be changed in the OVAPAM project, most of them replied that nothing at all needed changing. They thus seemed content with the project on the whole. Some of them mentioned problems with water, others the fact that livestock credit was granted only for large livestock and not for small animals. This criticism was quite often heard, namely that small livestock are somewhat neglected by OVAPAM, in terms both of livestock credit and veterinary services. To find out whether the women interviewed were really satisfied with their life in Mutara, one of the last questions asked was the following: "Would you like your children to live in Mutara when they get married"? Using the welfare of their children as a criterion is possibly the best way to determine whether or not women are satisfied with their lot. Only nine of the women interviewed wanted their children to live elsewhere. The reasons was generally that there would not be enough land .for them later on (eight out df nine responses). The ninth woman did not give any specific reason. On the other hand, seven women responded that plots could be obtained in Mutara. It would appear that plots are set aside in Mutara for the children of the first settlers. But the actual situation was not perceived in the same way by all the women interviewed. The 37 women who wanted their children to live in Mutara offered a number of reasons in support of this response, but the main reason was that a family should remain together and that a mother should be able to watch over her children (18 responses). Other women also wanted their children to remain close to them to help them when they are old (five responses). They affirmed that life in Mutara was easier than elsewhere, thanks to the project, and that they hoped their children could also benefit from it (ten responses). Finally, the women were questioned on their most serious problem, or what they would like to see changed in Mutara. Apart from individual cases of problems in private life (childless women, polygamous households) the problems brought up mainly concerned water and health. The women criticized either the shortage or the impurity of the water (see para. V). They also complained about frequent attacks of malaria. The widows spoke -47-- about the difficulty of doing farming and domestic work alone. The responses combine as follows: - problems with water supply 4 - sickness 14 - pregnancies too close together 2 - women alone without a husband 4 - unsatisfactory housing 2 - illiteracy 2 - inadequate harvest 1 XVIII. CONCLUSION: THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE CROP FARMING SECTOR It is difficult to determine whether the women now in Mutara feel that their situation has improved or deteriorated without a reference period to serve as a basis for comparison. It is well known that the responses to any questions asked about past acts or situations will be subject to error. However, they yield some interesting information and the situation described here should be a good reference tool for a study carried out in five years time, for example. The workday is generally divided into two equal parts, one devoted to household work and the other to farm work. The number of children per woman is high and the women still want to have a lot of children even if they are aware of the implications for their country's future. These women are generally satisfied with life in Mutura since they want their children to live there later on. However, health and water supply problems cause them very great concern. -48-- It is interesting to note that none of these women wanted their children to become anything other than farmers. They never mentioned the possibility of social promotion through education, for example. A future career as a civil servant "in the city," for example, is not what they foresee for their children. D. The Stockraising Sector In the stockraising sector, five collective ranches were visited (the last two being combined into a single section). The procedure and questionnaire used to study this population were the same as for crop farming population. I. Description of the Sample 48 women were interviewed on four ranches. 24 were over 35 (the oldest was 84). 24 were younger than 35 (the youngest was 19). Questionnaires 92 to 97 were put to Hima women. This socioeconomic group was considered separately, since the Himas used to be nomadic herders with very different customs and ways of life. One of the goals of the project was to get them to settle. They have partially adjusted to this new way of life. The average age of the women interviewed was: 51 for women over 35 27 for women under 35 39 for the population as a whole. Thus on average apopulation slightly older than interviewed in the crop farming sector. Household 76 was a unique case since although the family lived in a village of stockraisers, its only activity was farming. II. Origin of the Population All the women interviewed were Rwandese, except for one. Uganda. The origin by prefecture was as follows: - native of Byumba 40 - native of Kibungo 4 - native of Kigali 3 Here again, most of the women were from Byumba, the prefecture where the project is based, which is only natural. Kibungo is right beside Byumba, which explains the presence of the women from that prefecture. Two of the women from Kigali were Hutus married to Tutsis, natives of the region. With respect to the year of arrival in Mutara, the results were very different from those in the crop farming sector. The people were generally nomadic herders whom the project aimed to settle, so the date of their arrival in Mutara often corresponded to the birth date of the person - 50-- concerned. This was the case with 13 women who were born in Mutara and had never left. With respect to the other women: - 20:arrived before 1974, i.e., before the OVAPAM project. - 15 arrived after 1974. The population can thus be placed into two categories: - population who came with the-OVAPAM project - 15 women. - population preceding the OVAPAM project - 33 women. III. Matrimonial Status The matrimonial status of the 48 women interviewed was as follows: Widowed, Separated Married women over 35 6 18 women under 35 0 24 Total 6 42 It was impossible to find any young widows under 35 in this area. It may be assumed that if a herdsmen meets with an accident, his wife remarries immediately and does not retain her widowed status, in contrast to the farmer's wife. - 51 - Of the 42 "married" women: - 30 were legally married - 12 were cohabitating with their "spouse" without a legal marriage. Here again the "legal" marriage seemed to predominate with the same reservations as those noted in the crop farming sector. Of the 12 common-law marriages, nine were in the under-35 age group. Seven cases of polygamous marriage were noted. Three of these involving Hima women but the sample studied is too small to derive any conclusions. With regard to the mononuclear structure of the family, this was less striking among the herdsmen since only 16 families lived in a restricted circle. The others had one, two and sometimes up to nine persons living with them. These persons were often servants who lived with the family. In addition, widows often had one or two people with them. The structure observed closely resembles that of the crop farming sector: monogamous marriage, but with a greater tendency -o abandon the mononuclear for a more extended structure, with servants or other relatives. - 52 - IV. Housing Size of the House Taking the same classification criteria as for the crop farmers, there was a higher proportion of small houses in this zone: - 27 small houses - 17 medium sized houses - 4 large houses Wall Materials Once again the dominant wall material was the "tree" (intertwined branches) for 36 of the houses; three houses were built of baked brick. Five out of six houses of the Himas were built of straw, and the sixth was built of branches. Three Tutsi houses were also built of straw. * Wall Finishing In this case also, the material used to finish the walls was often clay (33 houses). Six houses had a layer of cement. The straw houses were not coated by any other material, the finishing also being done with straw. -53,- Roofing Materials The roofing in this sector was different from that of the crop farmers' houses. Most of the houses were roofed with straw (31 cases) and not with sheet metal (17 cases). To sum up, the most widespread type of housing in the entire stockraising sector is a very small house of branches' finished with a rough coating of clay and roofed with straw. The Hima houses are always made of straw. Additional Facilities In a sector whose chief means of subsistence is stockraising rather than crop farming, the compost heap was not as common. The stockraisers' households were better equipped than those of the crop farmers, a larger number having kitchen and practically the same number having latrines. V. Problems with Water Who Fetches the Water? Contrary to the practice in the crop farming sector among the stockraisers it is the children who usually fetch the water: 54--> For the Household For the Livestock the children 31 15 the women interviewed 6 1 the husband 2 5 a servant 3 8 anybody available 5 2 the grandchildren 1 1 Total 48 32 The non-responses to the question "Who fetches the water for the livestock"? derived from the fact that in certain families the animals themselves went to the water, and in the case of household 76 no livestock were owned. How Much Water is Used Daily? The responses to this question ranged from 10 liters for a young couple with no children to 100 liters. The average quantity used was 45 liters, slightly higher than the average quantity in the crop farming sector (35 liters). This is easily explained by the fact that stockraisers need more water because of the animals they own. How Long Does it Take to Fetch Water? In most cases a considerable length of time was required to obtain water supplies, except for Kiyombu/Karumura ranch, where about 40 minutes were needed in all but three cases where it took longer. - 55- For all the households the time taken was as follows: No. of Cases Time Taken Each Day to Fetch Water 4 4 hours and over 16 2 to 4 hours 28 1 to 2 hours 10 less than 1 hour It is important to note that the water used on the ranches did not come from a piped supply but from a spring or watercourse. Thus the time taken to fetch the water did not depend on the length of the period waiting at the standpipe as in the case of the small farmers, but on the distance from the supply point. Among the ranchers also lengthy periods of time taken to fetch water are connected to the fact that it is the children who carry out this task and that they do not have to hurry. What Problems Do You Have with Water? In most cases, the water was kept in a pitcher (25 households) or in a jerrycan (20 households). The pitcher was preferred over the jerrycan because it was easier to use for the purpose of actually drawing the water. Two families kept their water in a pail. - 56*- Only nine of the women interviewed said that they had no problems with water. The others criticized the dirtiness of the water (33 cases) and also the distance from the supply points (18 cases), and some mentioned water scarcity (six cases). Conclusion on Water Problem The situation with respect to water is different in the stockraising sector. The ranches visited had no piped water supply and the main problem was that the water was dirty. The fact that it sometimes took a long time to fetch the water was due only to the distance from the supply point and not to waiting lines at the standpoint, as was the case in the small farming sector. VI. Problems with Wood The problems with wood supply seemed to be less serious than in the crop farming sector, thanks to the greater abundance of bushes and shrubs around the ranches, at least at present. Who Fetches the Wood? No. of Cases the woman interviewed 7 the husband 6 the children 26 the servants 6 anybody available 3 - 57-- Once again it was mainly the children who were in charge of collecting wood, in contrast to the crop farming sector where this was the woman's job. In the stockraising families, children are called upon more to fetch water or to gather wood, relieving the woman of these tasks. When the stockraisers were asked what OVAPAM was doing to help them with their cooking, nearly all of those who responded mentioned tree felling for land clearance, since this gave them wood to burn (10 responses). The trees being cleared were young acacias, which harbor the tse-tse fly and have to be destroyed. Only two women spoke about reforestation. It is interesting to compare the two sectors. The farmers were well aware of OVAPAM's efforts to prevent deforestation and of the close link between the transplanting of young saplings and the provision of fuelwood for cooking. The stockraisers, on the other hand, regarded tree felling as the only beneficial aspect, representing a short term view. OVAPAM's reforestation efforts were not well assimilated. VII. Use of Time The four categories mentioned in the farming sector were also used for the stockraisers: - non-productive activities - farming and stockraising activities - 58 -. - domestic activities - other activities Six of the women interviewed were sick the day before the survey and will not be counted. Non-Productive Activities The stockraiser's wife did not carry on any productive activity for an average of 12.98 hours--the spread being between ten and 18 hours. Most of the women spent 12 to 13 hours a day resting, but nine women spent over 14 hours a day relaxing. Farming Activities No distinction was made between farming and stockraising activities. Four of the women had not spent any time the previous day working in the fields or with the livestock. On average, the time taken up by farming and stockraising activities was 4.7 hours a day, or considerably less than in the crop farming sector, which is only natural since animals involve less intensive work than farming operations, the maximum number of hours worked being eight hours. Domestic Activities The women spent a daily average of 6.11 hours on domestic activities, with extremes of up to 13 hours for the woman carrying out no farming or stockraising tasks. - 591- Other Activities Two of the women spent respectively three and four hours at the clinic (dispensaire) and one spent five hours at the market. Conclusion The workday of the women may be summed up as follows: Stockraising Crop Farming non-productive activities 12.98 12.86 farming and stockraising activities 4.7 5.90 domestic activities 6.11 5.42 Thus the workday of the women in the stockraising sector is not fundamentally different from those in crop farming. They spend slightly less time on domestic chores, and do not have to fetch water or wood. Furthermore, at least eight of the households had a servant who hlped in the house or in the fields. The women's total workday in the st6ckraising sector was 10.8 hours and 11.3 hours, or half an hour more in the crop farming sector. VIII. Activities of the Husband The questions were put to 42 married women. But a certain number of the husbands never worked, at least on the jobs mentioned. Four husbands worked for OVAPAM, one husband was a tradesman, one was very old (89) and one was old and suffering from rheumatism. With respect to the other 35 husbands: - 60- - 27 worked in the fields 31 took care of the livestock 6 participated in the household chores - 6 fetched water - 8 fetched wood - 11 went to market The degree of participation in the different tasks was similar to that found in the crop farming sector, but naturally with the accent on livestock care. But with 27 out of 35 persons working in the fields, it is clear that the stockraisers are gradually becoming crop farmers also. IX. Stockraising and Farming Work Stockraising The first question put to the women concerned the number of head of cattle owned and five of the women did not know or did not want to say. The dominant herd size was about 20 head but the numbers varied enormously from two to 200 head. No. of Households Interviewed less than 10 head 11 10 to 19 " 8 20 to 49 " 12 50 to 99 " 5 over 100 3 - 61-- Normally it was the husband who took care of the cows, while the calves were generally entrusted to the women and children. But there did not seem to be any very strict separation of labor according to sex and the children did a great deal of the work. Fourteen of the households paid a shepherd, mainly to take care of the herds in the fields and to take them to the watering place. The families often had other animals as well (goats, sheep, chickens). Of the 42 married women,.14 possessed their own animals, a much larger number than in the crop farming sector. Some owned a few chickens (six women), others owned cattle (eight women), often a cow and her calf, or even a cow, a calf, and a bull. The livestock products were mainly consumed by the household but some, for example butter, were sold sometimes. The stockraisers were in general quite pleased with the veterinary services with respect to livestock care. However they did criticize them for; - not traveling out to the ranches frequently enough; - not giving enough attention to small livestock (goats, chickens, etc.), or giving enough advice on this area; - neglecting the marketing structures (but is this their role?). - 62'- Farming The herdsmen who have now become sedentary have been initiated into modern methods of cultivation. Forty households practice crop rotation, 31 use manure and compost, which comes naturally to stockraisers, but there was little use of other methods: row seeding (six cases), erosion control (16 cases), selected seed (10 cases). As regards beer-making,- three of the households prefered to make sorghum "mash." In the other 45, in contrast to the crop farming sector, it was the woman who made the beer (26 cases). She was sometimes helped by her husband (13 cases). With respect to tools, there was no difference between those used by the herdsmen, being new farmers, and those used by the crop farming sector. The men use a pruning knife and sickle, and both men and women use a hoe. Apart from the cultivation of eleusine, a forage crop for cattle, the plants grown and the distribution of tasks were identical. X. Health The most common disease suffered by women and children in this sector was malaria (respectively 39 and 42 responses). The women also suffered from verminoses (12 responses) as did the children (10 responses). Only five women refused to go to the Health Center. The others were glad to go for treatment for: - 63*- - attacks of malaria (30 responses) - verminoses (worm infestations) (12 ) - childbirth (6 " ) - prenatal examinations (6 " ) - vaccinations (6 ) Health conditions in the two target populations seemed to be identical. Malaria and verminoses were the most prevalent, and the Health Centers were well established. It should be noted that vaccinations were never mentioned under the heading of health care for the crop farmers' wives. XI. Fertility and Birth Control Age at Marriage The average age at marriage was as follows: - 18.38 for women over 35 - 18.08 for women under 35 As among the crop farmers the women in the younger group got married at a slightly earlier age, and this population marries younger than the national average. -64-- Number of Births The sample contained 11 women over 49 and 37 women under 49. The following findings were obtained: Average No. of Average No. of Children Delivered Children Living women over 49 7.64 4.73 women under 49 5.03 4.11 The average number of children born to the stockraisers was lower than in the crop farming sector (7.64 against 8.1), and also lower than the average for Rwanda (8.3). The infant mortality rate observed here was identical in the two sectors (380 per 1,000) and much higher than the average for Rwanda. Pregnancies Not Carried to Term Seventeen out of the 48 women had had pregnancies not carried to full term, a slightly lower percentage than among the crop farmers' wives. Breast Feeding and Weaning Infants take their first solid food at the age of 10.6 months, a little later than in the crop farming sector (7.2 months) because breast feeding is so easy and they are permanently weaned a little earlier (22 months instead of 23). - 65- Family Planning Some women would "leave it up to God to give them children." Among the 44 women who responded concerning the number of children they wanted, the average number was 7.39, even higher than in the case of the crop farmers (6.13). Some women desired to have large families of 10, 15 or even 20 children! Women Under.35 Women Over 35 two or three children 1 0 four children 4 1 five or six children 7 5 seven to nine children 6 5 ten children or more 4 10 These results are very interesting since they reveal a definite change of outlook from one generation to the next. For women over 35, the ideal number of children was more than 10, while this number was not very often desired by the younger women. It ~ ~ ~ I wolIse-taaheear ihs two conatra`ictory trnsi h .LL- W(U-UJA seey LLLaL LLLere ar e tLL LW UVLU.L L.JL ren'sU --2L LLLe sample studied: stockraisers have fewer children on average than the farmers but their ideal family situation would involve a larger number of children. The couples do not discuss this matter very much since only 11 women had talked about it with their spouse. - 66'- With respect to contacts with family planning: - three had already contacted the family planning sevice (no example of this kind in the crop farming sector); - 18 were thinking of going there one day; - 24 were not interested (only four of these were under 5); - one woman did not have her husband's approval; - two did not respond. Thus it seems that the younger women under 35 are very interested in advice on family planning, as in the crop farming sector. An ONAPO campaign in this sector should find favorable ground. XII. Nutrition Apart from the wife in household 90 who eats no meat believing it taboo for women, there are no dietary restrictions in the stockraising sector. Food is most difficult to obtain in April and May, as in the cropfarming sector, and August, September, October. However, the reasons given to explain these difficult periods are different: - 67-- - a number of responses cited the damage caused by wild animals trampling down the crops; - April and May are a bridging period between harvest (no difference from the crop farmers on this point); - August, September and October are difficult months because of the small amount of milk produced by the cows during this period. But nearly all the wives of stockraisers (37) acknowledged that obtaining food now was quite a different matter from what it used to be because of a wider variety of products, in particular the introduction of vegetables into the diet (22 responses). They were also sensitive to the question of prices and the presence of markets making it easier for them to obtain food (nine responses). This also became very clear during the free liscussions held. The stockraisers' wives believed that their diet had definietely changed with the OVAPAM project, and on the whole were satisfied with these changes. XIII. Personal Income of the Wives Apart from widows, who naturally had their own income since they were heads of household, 11 stockraisers' wives had their own sources of income, a considerably larger number than in the crop farming sector. The - 68 - existence of such income is partially attributable to the fact that a certain number of women possess their own livestock. The most common source of such income was the sale of butter (nine responses) which the women make and sell. They also sell milk, eggs, and chickens and two of them even bought and sold cows or bulls. One worked for pay in other families. As might be expected, the incomes deriving from these operations 1% varied considerably: 5 women earned between RwF 1,000 and 2,000 a year 7 " " f RwF 3,000 and 5,000 a year 2 " " RwF 10,000 and " "f 1 " " RwF 20,000 " 1 " RwF 30,000 " " 1 " " RwF 50,000 " "" This money was used mainly to purchase clothes and household articles. XIV. Literacy Only 10 women inteviewed knew how to read and write and one illiterate woman was taking qlasses. The others stated: - that they were too old (13 responses) - that there was no center close to their home (10 responses) - that they had too much work (two responses). - 69- Spontaneously the women mentioned the absence of a school as the principal cause of illiteracy and complained of the distances to the literacy centers. Having itinerant teachers in the collective ranches should have ensured the success of the literacy campaigns. Out of 66 children aged between 7 and 16, 47 went to primary school, a much larger number than in the cropfarming sector. XV. Associations Only two women belonged to a savers' association, while the others knew nothing about such groups. XVI. Training Thirteen women had already taken part in agricultural training meetings which had helped them to improve their stockraising and farming operations. But a large number of them wanted meetings for women only (38 responses). They were principally interested in the following topics: - crop improvement (12 responses) - children care (nine responses) - the home (nine responses) - literacy (eight responses) - 70-- Few mentioned meetings on the women's role in a marriage or on family planning. XVII. The Future of Mutara All except four of the women interviewed were very familiar with the OVAPAM project. While they saw OVAPAM as principally designed to improve crops and stockraising, they also believed that its role was to create villages that would oblige them to settle (ten responses). They regarded its contribution to school and health center construction as a priority (eight responses). The majority of the women (40 responses) wanted their children to stay in Mutara. Here a number of explanations were the same as those given in the crop farming sector, "a family must stay together," "the children will help me when I am old," "life in Mutara is easier thanks to the project." They never referred to any trade other than that of stockraiser. Nearly all the women acknowledged that their life was better now than it used to be. However, they did have personal problems that they would like to see cleared up: - health problems connected with malaria in particular - problems with water (mentioned one out of four times) - problems with grazing: the women complained that the grazing areas were too small for their herd. - 71 - XVIII. CONCLUSION: THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN THE STOCKRAISING SECTOR The status of the stockraiser's wife is not fundamentally different from that of the crop farmer's wife. Her workday is a little shorter and she is less concerned with the questions of water and wood because the children participate more in household chores and she is more likely to have a personal income connected with stockraising. Her ideal family size far exceeds ONAPO's recommendations. They are apparently content to be settled in villages, and while they criticize the lack of grazing, they still acknowledge that certain aspects of their new lives are very positive since they want their children to live in Mutara later on. E. Free Discussions The purpose of the spontaneous but guided free discussions, en,retiens libres, carried out by the project interviewers, was to point up facts that might be distorted by the simplified form of the questionnaire and to provide additional information. Six basic topics had been suggested to the inteviewers, although deviations from those topics were welcome, in line with the free discussion principle. The six topics selected were: - work done by the women - livestock - markets in the region - settler integration - 72 - - birth rate problems - the OVAPAM project Since only a small number of women was interviewed (six in each of the two sectors), the findings were rather fgragmentary. Work Done by the Wives The women admitted unanimously that they worked very hard, even harder than their husbands. There was, however, a certain resignation about this inequitable distribution of tasks, and they were often grateful to the husbands for paying an employee to help her in the fields or at home. Even if the husband does participate in the farming work, the woman still has to do all the household chores as well. Livestock Credit The question concerned only the wives of the crop farmers. The women on the whole were not hostile to this idea, but noted two obstacles: on the one hand they were afraid that they would not know how to take care of the cow, and on the other, and this was their main problem, they felt that their fields were too small to use up part of the land for forage crops. - 73 - Markets Among the crop farmers, there was a great deal of discontent but a certain resignation with respect to markets. Since they all produce the same vegetables, and at the same time, the price paid is low in comparison with the effort put out. They therefore wanted marketing structures to be set up outside OVAPAM so that they could sell their products at a better price. The stockraisers on the other hand were quite content with the markets, and while they criticized the high prices charged, they frequently acknowledged that the farmer must be recompensed for his efforts. They were thus fully aware of the hard work put in by the farmers, now that they were also starting to grow crops themselves. Settler Integration In the stockraising sector, the Rwandese seem to get on well together, with households helping each other, lending articles and tools, etc. This happens much more frequently than in the crop farming sector, where the farmers seem to isolate themselves within their families. Since these collective villages were created recently and have disturbed the nomadic customs of the stockraisers, it is a positive outcome that a communal spirit has arisen. -74*- Birth Rate The free discussion elicited no new information. The women were fully aware of Rwanda's population problems and wanted to have information on this matter. Inconsistently they are still dreaming of having a family of six or seven children. The OVAPAM Project In general, the women were very pleaed to be in Mutara. Their principal criticism was directed at the water supply and, in the stockraising sector, at the small size of the grazing areas. F. CONCLUSIONS This survey of the status of women in Mutara suffered from one serious shortcoming, which unfortunately cannot be remedied, namely the lack of refefnce material to serve as a basis for comparisons with the preexisting conditions. Thus any attempt to assess whether the women's status has worsened or improved since they have been living in Mutara will be subject to error. Further, the survey took place at a specific time of year, and the results for March cannot be extrapolated for the other months of the year. The annex gives comparative summary results for each of the two sectors. - 75 - The survey yielded information relevant both to monitoring the Mutara project and to design future rural development interventions. These include: 1. Women perceive a serious water problem When asked to describe their main problem, women most frequently cited water supply, regardless of where they lived. In areas provided with a piped water supply, the standpipes and distribution systems function poorly and the women have to wait in line for hours. In regions without piped water the women complained that they were obliged to draw water that was unfit to drink. Water supply seems to be the most crucial problem in Mutara at the present time. 2. Women have work days of about 11 hours Adding together the hours spent on crop farming and stockraising activities and on household chores, women in Mutara work about 11 hours a day. This workday is one half hour less in the stockraising sector, which amounts to three and a half hours more "rest" a week. Women, therefore, have very limited time available for training and for participating in community activities. Although children in the stockraising sector play a much greater role in collecting water and wood and taking care of the livestock, their school enrollment in higher. The reasons, other than helping the family, limiting enrolment in the crop farming sector need to be examined. The number of servants employed in the stockraising sector as sheperds, domestic help, or in the fields is much larger. - 76 - 3. Crop farming and stockraising activities The crops, tools and distribution of tasks are practically identical among crop farmers and those stockraisers who also grow crops,and the new methods promoted by OVAPA4 are being adopted gradualy, but the success of the selected seeds has been discouraging. The crop .armers' main complaint is that they are unable to market their products outside the project area. The problem is that they all grow the same crops at the same time and cannot get a good price. They would like a marketing channel to Kigali or some other center. The herdsmen would like to see their grazing area extended. They would also like to have veterinary services visiting the ranches more often and more attention paid to small livestock. 4. Family size The rate at which the women interviewed had married was lower and they also had more children than the national average. The women were well aware of the population problems in Rwanda and were very interested in receiving information on family planning. They complained, however, that they did not know where to go for such information. On the other hand, they maintained a view of the ideal family as having at least six children. There was therefore a flagrant contradiction between their attitude toward family planning in Rwanda, as influenced by the radio, and their view of the typical family. Their responses indicted that they might not actively seek family planning advice, thus, the program should reach out to the women. They should also try to involve the husbands more. - 77 - The Future in Mutara Settlement of the nomads seems to have been well accepted. The villages are welcomed and the people help each other, thus starting to create a communal way of life. The women were generally satisfied to be living in Mutara and did not miss their previous situation. Although no comparison could be made with their previous situation it should not be overlooked that the reason why these women were now established in Mutara was that they had virtually no future where they lived previously. The life of a woman in Mutara seems very difficult to an outside observer. However, living conditions in Mutara are gradually improving thanks to the health centers, veterinary services, schools, etc., all of which should be encouraged. While they complained of problems with water supply and disease (particularly malaria and verminoses), they recognized the usefulness of the infrastructure established. They are thus satisfied with what the project has given them, and the majority of women from both sectors wanted their children to continue to live in Mutara. Annex SUMMARY IN THE CROP IN THE STOCK- VARIABLE OBSERVED FARMING SECTOR RAISING SECTOR HOUSING Medium-sized house made Small house made of of branches, generally branches or straw covered with sheet metal. and often covered Walls finished with clay with straw. Walls on the exterior. finished with clay. WATER AND WOOD SUPPLY Woman's work Children's work WORKDAY - nonproductive activities 12.86 hours 12.98 hours - crop farming and stock- 5.9 " 4.7 " raising activities - household activities 5.42 " 11. " NUMBER OF CHILDREN - born to women (now) over 49 8.1 7.6 - born to women (now) under 49 5.4 5.0 - desired in course of marriage 6.13 7.39 -2- WEANING - age at which solid food first given 7.2 months 10.6 months - age at which child completely weaned 23 " 22 SCHOOL ENROLLMENT (ages 7 - 16) 53.2% 71.2% AGE WHEN MARRIED - women now over 35 18.45 18.38 - women now under 35 17.55 18.08 MOST COMMON DISEASES Malaria, verminosis Malaria, verminosis WISHES FOR THE FUTURE - improvement in water - improvement in water supply situation supply situation - better marketing of - extension of grazing farm products at areas higher prices - small livestock care