By : Rose Mukagahizi
For families in Nyamagabe District, mushroom farming is becoming more than a source of food. It is helping improve nutrition, create income and build better livelihoods.
Through the Second Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP II), implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) through its Single Project Implementation Unit (SPIU), residents have received training and support to grow mushrooms and produce mushroom substrates.
Imanishimwe Marta represents Vision, a 44-member group under the KOIKWI cooperative in Cyanika Sector. She says the support from SAIP II has helped members improve both their nutrition and household income.
“Today, we are on a journey of development. What we do here contributes to improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of people in our community,” she said.
The group received mushroom substrates, training and equipment, including a production oven. SAIP II has also supported the group by purchasing the substrates they produce, helping members turn mushroom farming into a business.
According to Imanishimwe, the group has so far supplied 13,500 mushroom substrates to SAIP II and currently has another 4,000. A single substrate can produce mushrooms up to eight times over four months.
“We can invest about Rwf4.6 million and generate around Rwf7 million within three months,” she said, adding that members use part of their earnings to invest in other activities, including livestock farming.
For Nsengimana Laurent, a resident of Cyanika Sector, the skills gained through the project have improved food security in his household.
“My children are growing well, without problems of malnutrition,” he said. He now encourages other families to grow and eat mushrooms as part of a balanced diet.
Nyamagabe Vice Mayor for Social Affairs Uwamariya Agnes says SAIP II has contributed to improving community wellbeing while also changing attitudes towards nutrition.
She noted that stunting among children under five in Nyamagabe declined from 33.6% when the project arrived to 29.4% in the latest DHS figures cited by the district.
Beyond mushrooms, SAIP II has supported families with egg-laying chickens, vitamin A-rich sweet potato vines, iron-rich beans, kitchen gardens and nurseries helping communities improve nutrition while building more sustainable livelihoods.
