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By Annonciata Byukusenge
Bernadette Umpfuyisoni wakes up at five every morning. Her main activity is irrigating fruits on a small 5-hectare farm in Kiyogori, a remote rural village in Gatsibo district in Eastern Rwanda.
The 52-year-old mother never envisioned that her efforts in the farmlands would pave the way for women workers in her remote village to pursue prosperous lives.
“Women are now playing a vital role in agriculture and eliminating malnutrition, contributing to current national efforts towards improving food security,” said Umpfuyisoni.
The farmers have experienced from the poorest to the entrepreneurs and how stakeholders in the value chain; Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), via its Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), is now the achievement of the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP) has invaluable significance.
The latest data shows that in Rwanda, women especially from rural areas form the backbone of the agricultural labor force.
According to the Fifth Rwanda Population and Housing Census, conducted in 2022 by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) there are currently 77 percent of females engaged in agricultural activities compared to 58 percent of males.
The findings show that the of total 2.3 million agricultural households in Rwanda (69% of private households), the Northern and Southern Provinces have the highest percentage (more than 80% of total private households). Estimates indicate that out of total male-headed households, 70% are agricultural households. On the other hand, 67% of female headed households engage in agricultural activities.
But empowering women with agricultural skills has been a critical step in Rwanda to celebrate the successes and accomplishments of this category in agriculture.
This is because official estimates show that in Rwanda, more women than men are primarily engaged in agriculture, yet female farmers face more challenges in starting successful agribusinesses than their male counterparts.
As part of national efforts to overcome these challenges, various stakeholders are trying to equip female farmers with skills on how to boost their farm productivity.
For example, one of these initiatives consists of comprehensive training and support offered by the Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP) to several female farmers from the Kiramuruzi Sector the Eastern Province Gatsibo district, with farming practices helping them to mitigate negative climate change impacts.
Umpfuyisoni is among women who gained valuable knowledge and support on smart climate agriculture practices, with a particular focus on fruit farming. Currently, the fruits enable smallholder farmers in this remote rural area to grow a diverse range of resilient and nutritious crops, ultimately improving productivity and ensuring food security in their communities.
“Before 2020, I was a small fruit farmer because I have feu trees of fruits on a small farm equal ¼ of ha. I had 50 trees of mango, 5 trees of orange, and 15 trees of avocado.”
SAIP supported Umpfuyisoni to cope with the impact of climate change
“After successful of my project, SAIP provided me with a solar panel to help me to irrigate on 3ha, and before I was farming on ¼ ha. It built a dam sheet which supports to irrigate out of the swamp.” Umpfuyisoni said.
As the Eastern province has drought for a long time, in the dry season they could not expect enough production because there was not alternative to irrigation.
“Today I use the irrigation system with solar panels provided by SAIP. This solar can irrigate 3ha even if I farm on 5ha. There is a pomp in-ground, it pushes water by gravity to the dam sheet and helps to irrigate far of the swamp.”
She added that the production also improved because of the irrigation. Before irrigating my plants, the production was insufficient. “For avocado, I harvested a production equal to 80.000 Rwfrs per season, but now I have a production equal to five million (5 million per season). For orange, I harvested production equal to 500.000 Rwfrs, now I harvest a production equal to one million Rwandan Francs per season.”
The benefits of SAIP in the Umpfuyisoni family
“The first thing very important is job creation in my village. I have 50 temporary employees and 8 permanent employees. Other benefits from fruit farming helped to start domestic animal farming like cows, chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, and turkey.”
She added that her 10 cows produce 100 littles of milk per day. The malnutrition cases reduced in her village because the kids from vulnerable families drink milk from Umpfuyisoni free and eat eggs.
Yvonne Nyanzira is one of the small businesswomen in the Kiramuruzi sector. She says how the farming of Umpfuyisoni improved her business.
“Before I sell the fruits very far in other sectors like Kabarore and Kabarondo. The transport was very expensive to circulate in those sectors and to deposit to the market. The total cost of transport was 15 thousand Rwandan francs from 50 thousand of capital. Now I sell four sacks of fruits and the cost of transport to the market is two thousand Rwandan francs.”
Mr. Richard Gasana is the Mayor of the Gatsibo district. He says that SAIP helped the district to improve food security and reduce malnutrition.
“SAIP helped in increasing the value addition of their agricultural products, improving post-harvest handling and job creation in the community. We encourage other women to be confident and find innovative ideas that could be supported. We will continue to support the activities supported by SAIP so that they continue to reach others.”
Challenges
“The main challenge is that I can irrigate for three ha, and I have five ha. I need another pomp to extend my irrigation to the 5ha. If possible, SAIP could help me to get another pomp.”
The total project cost of 24 million provided by SAIP in 2020.
The Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP), is funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) through the World Bank. The project is implemented under RAB’s Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU).
