By Rose Mukagahizi
Some residents of Rambura Sector in Nyabihu District say that before they received small livestock through the PRISM project, they were living in extreme poverty and could not afford to buy small animals. Today, they have become livestock keepers who also support others, and they earn income by selling eggs and animal feed.
These residents are organized in a group called Abihuje, based in Rambura Sector, Nyabihu District, which sells both animal feed and eggs.
Hagenimana Louise, the leader of the Abihuje group, says PRISM began by training them in their villages on building confidence and using the little money they had to generate income. They were trained on saving, growing small amounts of money into larger amounts, and avoiding wasteful spending.
She said:“We received different trainings on how to overcome poverty, and later they gave us 10 chickens. We raised them, and once they started laying eggs, we thought about how they could benefit us. We immediately formed a group and combined the money from selling eggs. After that, we saved up 500,000 RWF and developed a project idea for how to use it. Because selling eggs far away was tiring, we decided to collect eggs from our members so that every resident living nearby could easily access eggs. We collect the eggs and hired someone who sells them.”
She adds that they realized egg sales alone were not enough, so they discussed how to also make animal feed available locally. Normally, the places where they could buy feed were many kilometers away, so they created a project to buy feed in bulk and bring it closer to where they live.
She said:“We started by selling 1,000 eggs, but now we sell 5,000 eggs. As for chicken feed, we began with 6 sacks depending on the chicken growth stage, but now we sell around 20 to 30 sacks.”
Mugiraneza Vedaste, a farmer who received one pig from PRISM, says that in the three years he has had it, it has helped him make major progress. The first time, he bred it and it gave birth to 8 piglets. From those piglets, he kept two and gave two to another person. The second time it again gave birth to 8 piglets; he sold them and bought a cow. He also bought potato seed, cultivated potatoes, harvested, and he is able to borrow through the group to run other small businesses reaching a point where he can build a good house that aligns with the national development vision.
At the egg and animal feed collection point, they can sell 160 kilograms of animal feed per day, and they sell 7,000 eggs per month.
Mukankusi Brigitte, the Social and Behavior change officer for the PRISM project in Rambura Sector, Nyabihu District, says the PRISM project came at the right time. They first formed groups in collaboration with local authorities, and later the former beneficiaries became partners.
She said:“After training on the project’s goal of helping citizens move out of poverty through small livestock rearing including chickens, goats, sheep, and pigs—and improving nutrition through livestock, some residents who could not afford to buy small livestock are now livestock farmers.”
PRISM is a project jointly implemented by the Government of Rwanda in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), through the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), and implemented under the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB).
