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By Annonciata Byukusenge
Emmanuel Mupenzi wakes up at five in the morning every day. His main activity consists of irrigating crops on a small land farm of 3ha located at Gahini sector, a remote rural village in the Kayonza district in Eastern Rwanda.
Mupenzi never envisioned that his efforts in the farmlands would pave the way for neighbor workers in his remote village to pursue prosperous lives.
Farmers in Kayonza District say the losses they used to incur while irrigating with diesel-powered pumps are now a thing of the past, thanks to the use of solar energy in their farming activities.
This was highlighted in the testimony of Mupenzi Emmanuel, a watermelon farmer in Gahini Sector.
He explained: “Before we started using solar energy for small-scale irrigation, we could not get enough yield because irrigation was too expensive. During the dry season, the soil could not retain enough water, which caused the crops to dry up.”
He added that the money he used to spend on diesel is now redirected to other farming activities, which helps him increase production.
“Every day I used 5 liters of diesel, and even then, I could not finish irrigating the entire field. In 30 days, I would use about 150 liters of diesel, and the prices kept increasing,” he said.
Mupenzi further explained that ever since he started working with the SAIP project, his yields have improved significantly, and his watermelons are now larger and fetch a better market price.
“Because I can irrigate throughout the season without fear of drought, the watermelons grow big enough that I sell each to wholesalers for between 1,000 and 1,300 Rwandan francs.”
The value of the project is 80 million Rwandan francs, with Mupenzi’s contribution of 20 million francs.
Youth Turn Irrigation Support into Business
Surwumwe Alphonse and fellow youth from Mukarange Sector also benefited from the SAIP project. After forming a group and developing a project, theirs was selected to receive support.
The youth established a company called RIEC LTD, which was provided with mobile irrigation equipment. They decided to rent out this equipment to farmers to generate income.
Surwumwe explained: “SAIP gave us 27 diesels, 25 running on diesel engines, and 2 powered by solar energy. Because of water scarcity in our district, we chose to rent them out to farmers so they can irrigate their crops.”
He added that the diesel engines they received are worth 31 million francs, including their own contribution of 9 million francs.
What Is the Benefit of Renting Irrigation Equipment?
Surwumwe said that their main focus now is to expand the number of pumps, because demand is higher than what they can supply. The rental service also generates profit.
“Each pump is rented out for 20,000 francs per day. In a month, one pump can generate about 350,000 francs. On average, we rent to at least 15 farmers per month. The big challenge we face now is that more farmers keep calling us for pumps, but we cannot satisfy them because we don’t have enough.”
Rurangwa Sam, a fresh bean farmer in Mukarange Sector, is one of those who rented irrigation pumps for a month. Speaking to Forefront Magazine, he shared how the scheme of renting small-scale irrigation equipment helped him.
“Before, I used to face huge losses because I could only harvest beans of the second and third categories. Due to drought and lack of irrigation, I could not harvest the first fresh beans category, and this category is for exportation. On 2.5 ha, I harvested between 8 and 10 tons. But now that I can irrigate even during the dry season, I will also harvest the first category. I expect to get between 10 and 15 tons.”
To meet the growing demand, Surwumwe said they have already purchased two additional diesel engines, but they are still not enough to satisfy the market.
In 2024, SAIP had set a target of bringing small-scale irrigation to 1,200 hectares. That goal was surpassed, with 1,367 hectares irrigated by the end of the year.
SAIP II also began with a target of 1,000 hectares but has already reached 1,078.5 hectares. More than 3,360 farmers have benefited from the project, 1,916 men and 1,453 women.
SAIP I (2018–2023, extended) and SAIP II (2024–2026) are funded by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) through the World Bank and implemented by the Rwanda Agricultural and Animal Resources Board (RAB).
