Support and empower women farmers in Rwanda, many of whom are widows from the civil war, to establish their own agriculture businesses

Why we care: Women are amongst the most vulnerable in Rwandan society and are often involved in low-paid labour intensive work.

How we’re solving this: By training 100 determined women farmers with skills cultivating sought-after, high value crops; link them to financial services and other businesses.

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience working in Rwanda, Oxfam is training small holder farmers, the majority of whom are women, to cultivate high-quality in-demand planting materials, such as pineapples, passion fruit and tree tomatoes. Growth in the horticulture sector for crops such as pineapples is high but currently relies on imported cuttings, which have a tendency to degrade during transportation and so are often low quality. We are also enabling women to confidently engage with buyers, opening up employment opportunities and raising the status of women in society. Crucially, activities will be showcased to government authorities, enabling them to replicate project successes on a national-scale.

“Thanks to the project, I have received agricultural and business training as well as a bank loan that has enabled me to develop a successful pineapple business. My husband admires me a lot. We complement each other and work together, but it’s me who has put the time and energy into our business and he recognises that.”

– Mercianne Uwamwezi, farmer and facilitator, Nyagatare village, Matimba