The Challenges and Examination of New Programme Ubudehe 2020 in Rwanda

Abstract

Ubudehe is a Rwandan practice and a cultural value of mutual assistance among people living in the same area in order to overcome or solve their socio-economic problems. In the past, Ubudehe was pre-occupied in agricultural activities to ensure timely agricultural operations for food security purposes. As a form of social capital, Ubudehe involved trust and reciprocity. The practice of Ubudehe in the traditional context was a mechanism of bringing together the community, shar ing the burden of problem solving, maintain ing social norms, social cohesion and ensur ing social control among communities living together. The main pillars of social protection consist of eradication of extreme poverty and ensuring prosperity and wellbeing for everyone, but all these cannot be achieved without a fundamental baseline that is based on poverty levels amongst Rwandan population. The Ubudehe categorization was first established by the Government of Rwanda in 2000 as part of the strategies to address poverty reduction and recently these categories were revised from four numerical naming to five letters (A, B, C, D, E). The discussion with a representative of the Local Administrative Development Entities (LODA) was focusing on putting clear distinctions between the new Ubudehe categories and the previous ones as well as tacking the issue of new aspects and what the general public should expect from the new categorization. At the end of year 2020 , all people in Rwandan are giving the main information with categorization in new ubudehe programme 2020 . The local government leadership with Loda helps the people to get all information in collaboration LODA and MINALOC. The challenges demonstrate how a process of community consultation and participation is able to identify and rank community members according to “ social poverty ” , drawing on the Ubudehe tradition which is considered a strength of Rwanda’s social fabric. This article highlights 5 challenges related to new categories differentiations and comparison between the old ubudehe with new ubudehe program: 1) The system used to identify the people from one category refers to the documentation riche and richest poor and non-power ranking and the barriers of lacking information from villages and the population system also can be the barriers ; 2) We need to know the difference between the new ubudehe programme and old ubudehe program ; 3) Categorization based on the salaries also is a challenge ; 4) The same features characteri ze as old ubudehe programme and all of people do not have a category ; 5) No Training for implantation, fail system computerization and no regularly public debates and private with overall objective . Data generated through of 385 interviews were conducted during May 2022 to October 2022 by research survey group at Musanze District with 15 Sectors. On impact, 95% of the sample confirms that their incomes had improved ; within that, about 71% consider that their income had doubled and 22% consider that their income had more than tripled. In addition, unplanned and unintended changes occurred through Ubudehe, as actually noticed in the sample of villages with the creation of 4805 temporary or more long-term jobs, through the construction of classrooms, health centres, roads and bridges, mills, electricity and water infrastructures, as well as the creation of radical terraces. The radical terraces make it possible to fight against ero sion, which is important in Rwanda because of strong frequent rains on steeply sloping grounds. A notable cultural change has also been witnessed . Currently, under the oversight of the Ministry of Local Government (MINALOC), Ubudehe program is managed by the Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (LODA) through District and Sector administration.