A month or so ago we had a faculty meeting on campus and discussed a partnership between us and the Minister of Agriculture. It seemed that there is some property that is owned by the Rwandan government and they want us to manage it. They want us to develop the concept of research and demonstration farms. The property is in 2 chunks. One will be transformed into a dairy facility. The other it seems will be under my direction in an attempt to create a beef cattle industry for this country. As you might imagine, that has me excited.
The property is part of what was once the Gishwati forest. Up until about 30 years ago it was approximately 250,000 acres. Now, the forest part is about 2,500. Due to the wars that have taken place in the region and the resulting mass migrations of refuges, the majority of the forest had been cleared for homesteads and small farms, most of which were abandoned during the genocide. The trees in these pictures are planted pines or eucalyptus, neither of which is a native species. I was unable to locate the actual remaining original portion of forest, but I will.
As the various political situations have become more stable, the government has resumed ownership of large portions of the property and are interested in community development. There is some international attention to this place from a conservation standpoint because it once had 13 species of non-human primates. You can read some of the history at http://www.greatapetrust.org/save/rwanda.php. I was down there this past Wednesday and took these pictures.
As the infrastructure improves and electricity reaches the more rural areas, it won't be long before the refrigeration capacity expands, maybe even to the point where rural residents actually have refrigerators in their homes. Currently, recipes start with statements like "boil the milk for 3 minutes" or "boil the meat for 10 minutes then..." because the likelihood for contamination is high. Because of this public health concern; goat, chicken or fish will be the meats of choice. They are more likely to be consumed in a timely fashion post-harvest to minimize the pathogen load. Large animals like cattle are difficult to utilize in a timely fashion and therefore are less desirable.
For the moment, the market for quality meats has expanded along with the booming tourist industry. As we develop our beef demonstration farm, we hope to provide a steady supply for the hotels in the area that cater to the Umuzungus that are here to see gorillas. By the way, on a sad note, there was another gorilla that died yesterday. That's 5 since I have arrived. There was a set of twins that suffered infanticide at birth. The mother was new to the group and was only with them for a month when she gave birth. The silverback knew that the babies weren't his so he killed them. The new mother will cycle back quicker since she is not lactating. The animal kingdom can be cruel at times. There was a mature silverback that died 2 weeks ago. An infant was killed last week when two groups mingled, then the mature female yesterday. You can read more about the gorillas at a site that is managed by Dr. Lucy Spelman. She is the head veterinarian for MGVP and lists the details at http://gorilladoctors.wildlifedirect.org/.
On a lighter note, one of the two pineapples that I have been trying to start has developed some roots so I put it in some dirt today. Being an optimist, I haven't given up on the second one and started a third one in water. Next weekend I will claim a garden spot around the house some where. Once the pineapples are up and running, I will try coffee!
