Rwanda’s top musicians promote better nutrition and health through music video
Their song raises awareness about the benefits of consuming and growing iron-rich beans
Rwanda’s top musicians are promoting better nutrition and health through a catchy new music video.
The song extols the nutritional benefits of new high-iron beans that are now available in Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. Nearly 40% of children in Rwanda do not get enough iron in their diets, which in severe cases can lower their IQs and learning capacity, resistance to disease and energy levels. Beans are a traditional staple food and eaten every day.
The new beans contain 15% more iron than ordinary beans, and can provide women and children with almost half their daily iron needs. They also yield twice the harvest of ordinary beans, increasing incomes for farmers.
More than 700,000 Rwandan farmers are growing and eating these nutritious beans, first released by the Rwandan Government in 2011.
'We’ve had tremendous success so far in getting these beans out, but we wanted to reach a much wider audience across the country,' said Lister Katsvairo, who heads the Rwanda Office of HarvestPlus, a global programme to improve nutrition.
'These iron beans are now making their way into urban markets, so we are launching a campaign to increase consumer awareness. We worked with Rwanda’s top musicians, who cater to all musical tastes including Afro-pop, rap and R&B. Who better to spread this message of how beans can improve nutrition and health?.'
These iron beans are now making their way into urban markets
The campaign has taken musicians King James, Miss Jojo, Riderman, Tom Close, and Urban Boyz on a series of roadshows across the country where they have performed live for more than 30,000 people. The shows included exhibitions and sales of iron bean seeds.
'We are bringing good news for all Rwandans that will change their lives once they start listening to the song, because it raises their knowledge about the benefits of growing and eating these high-iron beans. We hope that will change the lives of a lot of people in Rwanda,' said R&B artist King James.
'This was a chance for us to teach people how to stay healthy by eating what is necessary for their bodies – we came together to make sure that we say goodbye to malnutrition,' said Rwandan rapper Riderman.
Rwanda was the first African country to officially launch iron beans developed through conventional breeding. HarvestPlus works with many partners to deploy iron beans, including the Rwanda Agriculture Board with whom it co-produced this video.
The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) is also a partner in developing more varieties of beans even richer in iron. Iron beans are now also being distributed to several hundred thousand farmers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.
