Gloria Mutuzo Rwiyereka believes that her career in agriculture is more than just a job. Being in the field, she says, motivates her to work hard since the impact it has on people is enormous. The twenty-three-year-old is passionate about agriculture, working in the food production industry mainly doing horticulture. Her farm goes by the name IWACU Modern Farm ltd; a youth-led agribusiness that started two years ago. Gloria Mutuzo Rwiyereka. Based in Eastern province of Rwanda, the farm aims at providing diversified high-quality horticultural products that meet the needs of the consumers. The love for agriculture Rwiyereka was born in Congo but raised in Gisenyi, Western part of Rwanda. The graduate of agricultural economics, biochemistry and rural development from Jomo Kenyatta University says her love for nature is what inspired her to venture into agriculture, noting that the two are somehow connected. The young agriculturist says she finds agriculture beautiful in nature. “Imagine doing what you enjoy and at the same time impacting the community and society in terms of ensuring food security,” she says. Besides, being able to attend different youth agricultural programs is another motivation that pulled her to an agriculture career. “This is where I came to discover that there is a lot to explore and intervene when it comes to agriculture. I felt like I wanted to be among the change-makers around this sector in my country, especially as a youth,” she says. Aside from that, she says having fewer girls in the agriculture sector also motivated her to venture into it, to just try to make a difference. She also narrates that before that, when she had just joined campus, she didn’t know exactly to what extent Agriculture is good plus the fact that people could not understand why on earth such a young person like her would choose to study agriculture. With time, she came to understand everything and decided to follow her passion. How the business came to its existence, she says two years ago, she merged with a friend who specialized in the IT department to come up with the agribusiness. “We decided to bring the two different skills into action, as you can see, things are moving into ICT, agriculture too has not been left behind and by bringing the two skills together, we will bring out something innovative and special,” she adds. Accomplishments The farm started with growing different vegetables on an open field, but at the moment, they have moved to indoor/greenhouse farming, something she says is a big step as far as making a difference in her career is concerned. Rwiyereka also cites that being able to provide different types of fruits and vegetables around the community and within the country is a great impact that aligns with her ambitions. “Apart from allowing people to plant and grow their own vegetables and fruits in their homesteads for food security, greenhouses also provide a lot of benefits for the environment, to me this is something to be proud of,” she says. Moving forward, the young entrepreneur mentions that her role models are youth who are in this business who inspires her most. Just like any other business, she cites that lack of reliable markets for their fresh produce is one of the major setbacks they experience, adding that finance also plays a big part when it comes to challenges so far.
