How quinoa can help combat hunger and malnutrition

On a mission to create a hunger-free world, agricultural entrepreneur Cedric Habiyaremye makes the case for cultivating quinoa -- and other versatile, nutrient-rich grains -- in places experiencing malnutrition, like his native Rwanda. He shares a model to help smallholder farmers across Africa diversify their fields with nutritious and indigenous crops, taking a step towards ensuring healthy foods are available and affordable for all.

Like so many of you,

when I'm hungry, I open the fridge

and get myself something to eat
any time I want.

This is something most of us
who live in a developed country

don't think much about.

However, it is a luxury that I didn't
think I would ever have in my life

when I lived in a refugee camp
in Tanzania 23 years ago,

or even seven years ago,

when I was living
in my home country of Rwanda

before I moved to the USA.

I was only seven years old

when my home country of Rwanda
went through the tragedy of the genocide

that took so many lives,

and they made us flee the country,
and we became refugees.

Life in a refugee camp -- it wasn't life.

It was survival.

I saw a lot of people dying
from disease, poor sanitation,

hunger.

Food became a rare commodity.

There were bad days.

My family and I would survive
on the leaves and grasses from the forest.

There were also worse times,

when we would go two or three days
without anything to eat at all,

only drinking water from the swamp.

After three years in a refugee camp,

we decided to return back to Rwanda.

And our struggle with food continued.

However, farming proved to be
the only reliable source of food.

But our food lacked
the nutritional diversity,

and we continued to depend
on food assistance

from the United Nations World Food Program

to balance our diet.

Still today, more than
70 percent of Rwandans,

they work in the agriculture sector.

But malnutrition and stunting
remain rampant.

I came to realize that
food insecurity and malnutrition

were not happening because people
were not farming enough;

it was because people
were not farming the right crops.

I eventually left Rwanda

and moved to the USA for graduate school

and discovered the possible
solution to that problem.

And that solution is quinoa.

Quinoa is indigenous
to the Indian regions of South America,

in countries like Bolivia, Peru ...

And it's very well-known
for its powerhouse nutrient,

and the crop has all the nine
essential amino acids,

making it a complete protein.

But unfortunately,
quinoa is not cultivated as much

in different parts of the world.

In Rwanda, for example,

beans are the only thing
that kept so many of us alive

during those times
of hunger and starvation.

As a matter of fact,

Rwanda is the number one
beans-consuming country

in the world per capita.

In this part of Africa,

beans are one of the only crops
that provide immediate food source,

because you can eat beans
at every stage of growth.

We eat beans, leaves
and green beans before harvest.

Unfortunately, you cannot cultivate beans

in the same field season after season.

You need to ensure
there is regular rotation

to avoid disease and pests.

Like beans, farmers can enjoy
the nutritious quinoa leaves.

While beans are considered nutritious,

quinoa has far more micronutrients,

and with quinoa, you can make many [more]
different food products and drinks

than beans.

In 2015,

alongside my research team
at Washington State University,

we introduced quinoa in Rwanda
for the first time.

We tested 20 varieties of quinoa

to see the adaptability
in three ecological zones of Rwanda.

And the results were astonishing.

Among the 20 varieties we tested,

15 of them showed the potential
to grow well in Rwanda's climate.

And later, we started
Quinoa Model Farmers Program.

We gave those potential
varieties to farmers

to grow in their farm and community.

We started with 12 farmers,

and three years later,

we are now working with
around 500 farmers,

including my mother,

who is locally known
as "the queen of quinoa"

because of her work in helping
other farmers adopt this crop.

We give them seeds,

train them how to grow it
and how to cook it.

And farmers are pretty creative,

coming up with recipes of their own.

And we've started seeing
remarkable changes in their lives,

including success stories

that many of them can now have access
to nutritious food three times a day.

I'd like to note that quinoa

is not meant to entirely
[push out] other crops.

We introduced quinoa as a supplement

to create overall health and nutrition,

rounding out diet
to combat chronic malnutrition.

We have started this model
with quinoa in Rwanda,

but it can be replicated
in different countries

experiencing hunger and malnutrition.

About one in nine people in the world
suffer from chronic malnutrition.

We have started research collaboration

with institutions in countries like
Kenya, Malawi, Uganda

and other countries
experiencing hunger and malnutrition.

And quinoa isn't the only magic crop.

There are several crops
with high adaptability

and nutritional value,

crops like millet, sorghum,
fonio, barley, oat, to name a few.

These crops have high adaptability
and respond well to climate change.

You can grow these magic crops
in different parts of the world,

bridging the gap, so that there is
accessible nutritious food for everyone.

I know how it feels to be hungry.

I've been there.

And I know how it feels
to be malnourished,

because I've been there, too.

Introducing crops with high biodiversity,
adaptability and nutritional value

will play an important role
in creating food security,

seed sovereignty
and sustainable production

in communities and countries that are
experiencing hunger and malnutrition.

Having nutritious food
should not be a luxury.

There is a need to ensure that there is
accessible and affordable nutritious food

for everyone.

And this is a step towards
making it a reality.

Thank you.