Press Release: President Bill Clinton Breaks Ground on Hospital, Visits Farmers in Rwanda

Visits are made to projects of the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative and the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative.

President Bill Clinton continued his tour of Clinton Foundation projects in Africa with a full itinerary today in Rwanda, where he helped to break ground on a new hospital established with the help of the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative (CHAI) in the last district in Rwanda without a hospital, made a rural house call with a Rwandan health care worker; and visited coffee and cassava farmers working with the Clinton Hunter Development Initiative (CHDI).

“Rwanda is making great progress under the leadership of President Kagame, and I'm proud my Foundation is working with the government and people of Rwanda to successfully improve farmers' incomes, expand economic opportunities, and strengthen health services throughout the country,” President Clinton said. “I'm hopeful that our work projects on sustainable agriculture and health care can inspire others in Rwanda and beyond.”

President Clinton began the morning in cassava fields in Rwinkwavu where CHDI – a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the Hunter Foundation – has assisted farmers in planting cassava, a high-yielding crop that grows in relatively dry conditions. In 2006, CHDI distributed 5.7 million cassava cuttings to 4,000 farmers. In 2007, CHDI expanded its distribution to include 5,500 farmers – nearly 80 percent of all farmers in Rwinkwavu. Many farmers have shared clippings with neighbors, enabling a further expansion of food security in the region despite a downturn in local maize production. Working with farmers, CHDI is helping to improve food security and incomes for thousands of families.

After meeting with farmers, President Clinton made a house call with a community health care worker to see first-hand how essential health care services are delivered in rural settings. The President joined a home health care visit with a 15-year-old patient who was placed on treatment for late-stage AIDS symptoms in 2005. CHAI has worked with the Rwandan government to recruit, train, and deploy community health care workers in order to reach thousands of patients who otherwise wouldn't be able to access health services.

Next, President Clinton attended the groundbreaking for a new hospital in the Burera District, the only district in Rwanda still lacking a hospital. Based on work by CHAI and Partners In Health in eastern Rwanda, the Clinton Foundation has been invited by the Government of Rwanda to scale-up a successful model of rural health care delivery throughout the country. This work has begun in Burera District, and additional improvements to the district's health care system include establishing a network of community health workers.

President Clinton also visited with coffee farmers who work at the Nyamwenda coffee washing station in Gisenyi, Rwanda. For more than a year, CHDI has worked with 6,500 coffee farmers to expand their access to financing, improve their production and processing capacity, facilitate international sales, and develop a new “Rwandan Farmers” coffee brand that is structured to return profits directly to the farmers and their communities. Rwandan Farmers coffee was launched in June 2008 and now is sold in more than 800 retail outlets in Europe. CHDI is working in both Rwanda and Malawi to improve farmers' incomes, develop sustainable agri-businesses, and strengthen essential infrastructure that can improve productivity.

Tomorrow, President Clinton will conclude his trip with announcements in Liberia and Senegal. Follow the journey online at www.clintonfoundation.org/africa.

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