diseases, have played a major part in creating the present critical situation. Together with that, there are other major constraints such as the decline in arable land and over-farming, leading to a gradual exhaustion of the soil -not to speak of demographic pressures. That is why the most severely affected regions of the country are those which have the highest concentration of inhabitants per square kilometre. BCT/jg A/S-18/PV.6 88 (Mr. Bizimungu, Rwanda) The Government of Rwanda has not remained idle in this situation. The President of the Republic, His Excellency Major General Juvenal Habyarimana, personally visited the regions and papulation qroups stricken by these woes. After these visits, the Head of State took a number of impOrtant measures and decisions to meet the most urgent needs of the stricken population groups and to set up machinery capable of providing a lasting solution to the problem. The Rwandan people as a whole has been mobilized to make the best use of the national resources in order to reach optimal production levels -the guarantee of the success of any food self-sufficiency policy. On behalf of the Government of Rwanda, I extend my sincere thanks to the friendly countries and international orQanizations that have provided or promised assistance for the stricken papulation qrouP5. Rwanda, 1 ike other developinq countries, is coPinq with an unprecedented economic crisis. That is why the Central Committee of the National Revolutionary Movement for Development and the Government, at their joint meetinq last December, adopted a large-scale programme for endoqenous economic recovery based on macro- and micro-economic measures (to be carried out in the short, medium and lonq term). The remedial measures we have prepared involve in particular the reduction of public outlays on the one hand and an increase in State earnings on the other. 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the critical situation in Rwanda, highlighting the impact of diseases, soil exhaustion, over-farming, and demographic pressures on the country's food self-sufficiency. The Government of Rwanda is taking measures to address these issues, including mobilizing the population to optimize national resources and implementing a large-scale programme for endogenous economic recovery. The text also expresses gratitude to friendly countries and international organizations for their assistance.

**Category**
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, Humanitarian aid and relief, Economic development