FOR many years, Liberée Dusabinema’s family lived a deplorable life and hardly afforded a daily meal.

The biting poverty was due to lack of enough land for cultivation and failure to try out other  income-generating projects.

But in 2001, Dusabinema defied odds and secured a loan of Rwf500,000 from a bank  to open up a retail shop in Musanze District where she sold foodstuff and other household items.

"It was a small but helpful business. We could afford to put food on the table and never lacked basic needs,” says the resident of Ruhengeri Cell, Muhoza Sector.

The 42-year-old mother of six says from her retail business she finally managed to eke out a living.

 "I learnt that any amount of money can start a business,” she says.

She has done the same business for nearly a decade and it’s the source of the family’s livelihood.

Starting a bakery

From retail business, Dusabinema decided to venture into another business.

That was in 2010 when she started a bakery in Muhoza Sector.

"I found out that the business was not generating enough income and I decided to venture into bread making,” she recalls.

With her husband, they started a bakery and profits started increasing.

"It was a turning point, our bread enjoyed wide market,” she says.

She adds that they were able to save more than Rwf200,000 per month.

Dusabinema says that within the next two years, they were able to invest in other  income-generating projects, including piggery and farming.

She says the projects complemented each other well and helped the family make a lot of money.

Currently Dusabinema’s family boasts several income-generating projects. They have over 500 pigs.

"We are now a satisfied family. We sell pigs to other farmers as well as pork,” she says.

A kilogramme of pork goes for between Rwf2,500 and Rwf3000 and a pig can weigh as much as 200kg and more.

Achievements

"Our children go to good schools and feed well. We have built a modern residential house and another commercial house which is generating money,” he says.

"We are committed to working hard and gaining more from our efforts,” she says.

Challenges

Like many other businesses, the family business faces challenges.

One of them is the lack of skilled  manpower and modern materials to increase production.

Competition with people in the same line of business also poses a serious challenge, she said.