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By Annonciata Byukusenge
In 2016, a group of 117 residents, 100 women and 17 men from Cyahinda Sector in Nyaruguru District came together to form a cooperative they named Urumuri. They were driven by a shared struggle: persistent poverty caused by a lack of income-generating activities.
In 2022, their cooperative began working with the JP RWEE Project, an initiative that promotes the empowerment of rural women. That partnership would go on to transform not only their livelihoods but also their confidence and social standing.
From Dependence to Dignity
Ernestine Nikuze, a 41-year-old mother and farmer, is one of the women whose life was changed by the cooperative. Every day, she works in the Urwanjyo wetland fields, cultivating potatoes and maize.
“Before we learned about gender equality and complementarity between men and women, everything in the household belonged to the husband,” she recalls. “Even salt for cooking, I had to ask him for it, and it only cost 200 francs.”
Ernestine says that dependence kept her trapped in poverty, constantly asking her husband for everything despite having the ability to work for herself.
“As women, we were poor because we stayed at home all the time,” she explains. “Now, we’ve gained confidence. We can buy what we need and solve family problems together with our husbands. This has restored our dignity, and today, women are even taking on leadership roles.”
She adds that what truly empowered women in Cyahinda were the various training sessions they received covering topics such as family harmony, gender equality, and modern, market-oriented agriculture.
“Before, I depended entirely on my husband,” she says. “If I asked for something, he’d tell me I was useless and only knew how to eat. I used to harvest just 10 kilograms of beans from a small plot. But everything has changed now.”
Women Rising Through Cooperation
The main challenge the women of Cyahinda faced was poverty rooted in inactivity; they were confined to household chores with no economic ventures of their own.
Alphonsine Nyirabagenzi, president of the Urumuri Cooperative, says they decided to grow potatoes and maize to improve their livelihoods and fight malnutrition and stunting among children.
“When we started farming together, we were amazed by the results,” she says. “It was the first time we’d seen such a good harvest; it changed our lives, especially as women.”
Before partnering with RWEE, the cooperative produced just two tons of potatoes and one ton of maize.
“Now, we harvest seven tons of potatoes and five tons of maize,” Alphonsine reports proudly. “All that produce brings in income. At first, when we lacked proper skills, we lost three tons of maize because we didn’t know how to store it properly. When we explained our losses, RWEE provided training, and now we no longer face those problems.”
Beyond their agricultural success, the cooperative members have built two houses, one for storing their harvests and another serving as their office. The second building also includes a cold room and a small milling machine used to process maize flour, which they sell locally as akawunga.
Achievements for JP RWEE Phase II
7,261 farmers trained on Climate-Smart Agriculture practices through Farmer Field Schools (FFLS). 26 Hectares of land under solar-powered irrigation.
325 saving groups created (bringing together 7,798 farmers, 1,500 men, and 6,297 women), Rwf 200 million saved, and Rwf 130 million issued to members in loans.
2,753 individual farmers & 44 groups have opened bank accounts, increasing access to financial services. One poultry model farm and two selling points established.
This project is implemented by FAO, IFAD, UN Women, and WFP, in partnership with the Government of Rwanda, through four implementing partners: CVI, INADES Formation Rwanda, RWARRI, and SAFE.
