The community of potters, formerly known as the "Batwa" pre-genocide, is a historically marginalized population that faces poverty and severe food shortages. To address the high prevalence of malnutrition in the community, HDI will help a community of 200 people to start a pig cooperative. The cooperative will give community members an income-generating activity to alleviate the effects of extreme poverty and provide the community with a rich protein source that will reduce malnutrition rates.
There are thousands of potters living in poverty in Rwanda who face extreme food insecurity, unemployment, and discrimination. HDI works with the people in Cyaruzinge, who were recently re-located for preservation purposes from their farmlands to a small city compound. Stigmatization prevents the potters from finding employment and the lack of arable land makes it difficult to find food to feed their families. As a result, malnutrition is a major problem for many community members.
The pig cooperative will organize community members to raise a small pig farm. Funds will be used to build a pigpen, buy 10 starter pigs, and support the costs of pig food, vaccinations, and two laborers to take care of the pen for 6 months. After the first reproductive cycle, each family will own at least one pig and the farm will be profitable. Community members will then have a sustainable source of income and protein, as each female will yield about 14 piglets/year to be sold or consumed.
As a result of this project, community members will be empowered with an income generating activity that can support their families, the entire community will have access to a rich protein source, and children will no longer starve. HDI hopes to use this project as a model for similar communities across Rwanda to ensure that marginalized groups like the community of potters are empowered to be agents in the development of their communities.
This project has provided additional documentation in a XLSX file (projdoc.xlsx).
