Pushed to Hunger: Starvation in the Shadow of Stardom

Overview This special report, by the Global Campaign for Rwandans' Human Rights and published in May 2017, documents a hidden famine that struck Rwanda from November 2015, the crisis Rwandans themselves came to call "Nzaramba", meaning "I will live long". The investigation found that more than three million Rwandans were on the verge of starvation and more than 150,000 had fled the country, mostly to Uganda. The famine hit hardest in the Eastern Province districts of Rwamagana, Nyagatare, Bugesera, Kayonza and Kirehe, as well as Nyanza and Gisagara in the Southern Province. While the Rwandan government blamed climate change as the sole cause of poor harvests, the campaign's investigation revealed far deeper causes: poor agricultural policies, a declining economy, the regular distortion and displacement of populations, the lack of freedom of expression, and political gambits that left communities destitute. The government refused to appeal to the international community for humanitarian food assistance, unwilling to risk its carefully branded image as Africa's economic miracle, a narrative researchers have increasingly debunked as a mirage built on cooked growth statistics. The government also imposed a media cover-up on the crisis. Because it controls the media and restricts freedom of speech, the full extent of the famine went unreported until July 2016, when the Kenyan newspaper The East African published an article on the "famine of shame" the government wanted left in oblivion. The United Nations World Food Programme managed to provide some emergency food assistance, but even most of those beneficiaries were forced into community labour as compensation for the food they received. The report examines the situation of the famine crisis, the real causes behind it, and why the world remains unaware of it, before setting out conclusions and recommendations. It calls on the Rwandan government to officially recognise the famine, appeal for international emergency food assistance, and allow humanitarian aid to reach affected communities unconditionally.