Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gifted 200 cows to the Rwandan government in the presence of President Paul Kagame. The Indian PM travelled to the Rweru model village in Bugesera, located around 45 km to the south of the capital city of Kigali, to present the cows to 200 households of the country.

Modi, who is on a two-day visit to the East African country, was seen feeding hay to the cows. He was also shown around the cow shelter and was given demonstrations of the processes involved in the care of the bovines.

“Being part of a transformative project towards economic development of Rwanda! PM @narendramodi donates 200 cows under #Girinka – One Cow per Poor Family Programme at Rweru village. Girinka is an ambitious projects that provides both nutritional & financial security to the poor,” wrote Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs on Twitter.

Being part of a transformative project towards economic development of Rwanda! PM @narendramodi donates 200 cows under #Girinka – One Cow per Poor Family Programme at Rweru village. Girinka is an ambitious projects that provides both nutritional & financial security to the poor. pic.twitter.com/bXOKbOnd9g

— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) July 24, 2018

What is Girinka?

Girinka is a pet project of the Rwandan President aimed at helping poor families in his country tackle poverty. Kagame’s project involves the gifting of one cow by the government to every poor family. The family takes care of the cow with some help from the government. If the first born of the cow is a female calf, it is gifted by the family to their neighbour.

There are two major objectives of the social programme – to help malnourished families obtain proper nutrition from milk and milk products, and, to boost agricultural production. The third objective is to promote a sense of brotherhood in a nation which witnessed one of the worst cases of human conflict of the 20th century – the Rwandan Genocide.

Kagame’s national social protection programme, which was conceived in 2006, is expected to draw 350,000 families out of poverty by 2018. According to the Rwandan government, the programme has so far succeeded in benefitting 203,000 families.

The word Girinka is an African word (Swahili or Kinyarwanda) which means “have a cow”. According to the Rwandan government, Girinka is a centuries-old cultural practice in Rwanda whereby a cow was given by one person to another, either as a sign of respect and gratitude or as a marriage dowry.

Where did the cows gifted by the Indian PM come from?

All the cows gifted by PM Modi were sourced locally. At a press briefing before the visit of the PM, TS Tirumurti, Secretary, Economic Relations, MEA, said the ministry felt “it was important that we get involved” in the Rwandan President’s personal initiative.

Also Read: PM Modi visits memorial dedicated to Rwandan Genocide