The 1994 genocide of more than 800,000 people, in Rwanda, reduced the population from 7.6 million to 6.8 million. That is a drop of over ten percent of the population. Rwanda is a poor country with nine tenths of the population working in the agricultural sector. According to the CIA world fact book, ”The 1994 genocide decimated Rwanda's fragile economic base, severely impoverished the population, particularly women, and temporarily stalled the country's ability to attract private and external investment” (World Fact Book). Due to deforestation, the lack of usable land, and the obvious diminishing of the work force the economy of Rwanda was incredibly weakened. The country is also plagued from periodic droughts and is surrounded by the volcanic Virunga Mountains.
