Economic Growth Rwanda Project #18848

Raising Rwanda: Women Farmers' Training Center

by Africa Development Promise

Raising Rwanda: Women Farmers' Training Center

Project Report | Aug 5, 2015
First training held on site of new center!

By Carrie D | Marketing & Communications

John conducting a training

The women of the Ingabo Ikingira Ubukene co-op have been hard at work bringing their dreams to a reality in the Bugesera District of Rwanda. Africa Development Promise was grateful to welcome Global Giving’s in-the-field representative Kelly in June. He noted that he “loved laughing with the women in the field and my cheeks are still sore from all the smiling. I can tell great work is being done.” He added, “Talking with the women I really appreciate how they are in charge of their growth and programming. Africa Development Promise connects them to resources and trainings but I loved how the women decided what they were growing and how they wanted to manage the land.”

After entering into a contract with a local hotel, the women were able to sell their yield, and are continuing to utilize the greenhouse and new land purchased to grow ever more. Africa Development Promise works to ensure that this income generating project is sustainable, and part of that involves education. As a reminder, the women decided that a training center in the village would be an office, storage space (as well as income that could be generated from renting the space out), and a way to bring knowledge into the village – as opposed to having to travel to town for each and every training.

In this spirit, the first training to be conducted in Bugesera district happened during the entire month of June. John Kimenyi, a Rwandan-born Senior at City College of New York studying Business conducted several financial literacy trainings, so that both the co-op as a whole and the individual members get a better sense of how this new profit can be sustained and managed.

Here is an excerpt from his report:

“As a Financial Capacity Building Intern, my responsibilities were to train and promote the importance of money and ways to manage it to the women of the Ingabo Ikingira Ubukene Co-op in Bugesera District of Rwanda. I provided trainings for the month of June on the following topics:

Cash Flow and Saving
Profitability and Borrowing
Financial Record Keeping.
Managing Risk
Staff Management

To fulfill Africa Development Promise's mission of helping co-ops to achieve economic self-reliance they would indeed need continuous financial trainings as a way to equip co-op members with skills to manage loans, grants and other moneys that may help them grow. These few modules that I trained them in have given the women the basics of financial management. However, it is not something that one expects the group to fully grasp after one training. This kind of training material needs to be reintroduced to the members every now and then so they can adapt and use it in their day-to-day activities.This space will be great for that.

A lot of the women concluded that the reason they don't profit from their household income generating activities is because they don't record and account for every input that goes into a certain activity and output that comes out of the activity.

I have really enjoyed the company of these hard workingwomen in this coop. Throughout my 5 years working with NGO’s in Rwanda prior to moving to the United States, I worked on a couple of projects that supported rural women activities aimed at raising their living standard. However, I had never before met a group as well-organized, committed, passionate, enthusiastic, and hardworking as the women of Ingabo Ikingira Ubukene Coop.”

We couldn’t agree more!

ADP Country Director Vincent with the Co-op

Kelly from Global Giving visits the co-op

Tomato yield

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May 7, 2015
First Yield!

By Carrie | Marketing & Communications

cabbage grown in co-op owned open fields

As you may recall, the women of Ingambo Ikingira Ubukene Co-op in the Bugesera District of Rwanda and Africa Development Promise had to halt the building process because new building codes no longer permitted the use of the mud bricks. In the meantime, a greenhouse had been constructed, and they had started planting tomatoes.

Seeing the enormous economic potential of the greenhouse, the cooperative decided to preserve the precious land upon which they were initially going to build the training center. This land is fertile and within close proximity to a water source and is perfect for a second greenhouse – this time for bell peppers.

The co-op opted to purchase an adjacent, smaller plot of land for the training center. This purchase was made without the assistance of Africa Development Promise, which is further proof of the motivation these amazing women have to create a better future for themselves and their families. Monthly deposits are made by each member to help pay off the loan for this new plot of land, and it is recorded by the co-op’s bookkeeper.

Once the land was purchased they planned to dig up the foundation and reuse it on the new plot. To date the land has been purchased, and the foundation has indeed been removed and rebuilt on the new plot. They have negotiated to purchase fired clay bricks and construction will begin soon.

As for the greenhouse that was constructed earlier this year, the first yields of tomato were picked this week. The cabbages that were planted in the open fields outside the greenhouse were also picked this week. The produce will be sold to hotels and restaurants in the nearby town of Nyamata where the women have signed an agreement with these buyers.

It's no wonder the name of the co-op means "Sheild to protect from poverty."

tomato crop growing in the greenhouse

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Feb 4, 2015
A Lesson Learned

By Carrie | Communications

Original foundation for training center

In Rwanda, rural housing has traditionally been built with mud bricks, wood, mud plaster, and the use of a concrete screed. In October, when the members of the cooperative decided to build a training center that would also serve as their office and community center, they proactively did two things: (1) they applied for a building permit; and (2) they approached Africa Development Promise for support. Once the permit was granted the women gathered the wood and started building the mud bricks, which they stacked neatly in rows as they waited for cement so they could start building the training center.

A month later, the bricks were swept away by the rain. They tried to salvage the bricks by covering them with a plastic tarp but working with mud certainly has its challenges especially when it rains. The ladies regrouped and made new bricks; which is a great testament to their determination and resilience. With bricks in hand, they began the construction of their building.

However, they faced another set -back. Soon after the construction had started, a district official stopped by to inspect the project—only to discover that they were using mud bricks. The project was immediately halted because new building codes no longer permitted the use of the mud bricks that residents were used to and could afford. Instead, they were told to use concrete brick. This was a significant oversight on the part of the Sector who approved the permit, especially since the Bugeresa District is slated for redevelopment that includes a new international airport, hotels and convention centers. All efforts to negotiate with the Sector fell on deaf ears and the progress the ladies had made was once again erased.

For Africa Development Promise, we learned a valuable lesson —Inspect and verify through the local government that all documents are in order. Going forward, the co-op and Africa Development Promise staff will coordinate more closely with the Sector government, and establish a relationship that will ideally eliminate these kinds of regulatory and/or miscommunication mishaps.

However, the good news is that we were able to raise enough funds from awesome donors like you to start purchasing the building materials. Not to mention the cement factory in Rwanda that was closed for renovation is opening back up, making the cost of Rwandan cement a little cheaper than it was when we first posted our budget. This will hopefully cover some of the cost associated with purchasing cement bricks.

The greenhouse that is next to the training center site has been constructed, and planting has begun. It's just the motivation these women need to see their co-op becoming a pillar of development and progress for their rural village. Once the planting is done, they can once again focus on their new building.

Construction of the greenhouse

It's up!

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