FEATURED: How Hinga Weze supported smallholder farmers to improve crop productivity, incomes and nutritional status

The USAID-funded Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity (Hinga Weze) is concluding its five-year, $32.6 million initiative to alleviate rural poverty and malnutrition across the Rwandan districts of Gatsibo, Kayonza, Bugesera, Ngoma, Nyabihu, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Nyamasheke, Karongi, and Nyamagabe. Producers in these districts, which are known for low agricultural productivity due to poor weather and use of agricultural practices, saw low productivity and increased rates of food insecurity. But today, “farmers are producing more and earning more money,” said Laurence Mukamana, Hinga Weze Chief of Party. “This, in turn, is helping them to expand their businesses by having increased capacity, access to loans, and market information, and to invest in their family’s health by producing and purchasing diverse, nutritious foods.” By partnering with communities to design locally driven solutions, Hinga Weze has benefitted 734,383 smallholder farmers since its inception in 2017. This has significantly improved both the incomes of smallholder farmers as well as the nutritional status of Rwandan women and children. Hinga Weze serves as an example of how partnerships between development implementors, national governments, and local communities can effectively improve food productivity and security. Moving from subsistence agriculture to market-oriented farming Productivity across the Activity’s ten target districts and five target value chains used to be extremely low at 500 kilograms per hectare for beans, 1,000 kilograms per hectare for maize, five tons per hectare for orange flesh sweet potatoes, eight tons for Irish potatoes, and 5.8 tons per hectare for horticulture. s the Activity prepares to close in 2022, productivity across the five value chains has improved by at least 50 percent across the board through Hinga Weze’s three pillared approach of sustainably increasing agricultural productivity, improving market access, and increasing nutritional status of women and children under two. In line with this approach, Hinga Weze helped farmers increase their knowledge of good agricultural practices, such as the utilization of improved inputs and planting methods through training sessions, field agents, and demonstration plots. Hinga Weze also equipped farmers and agribusinesses with skills in entrepreneurship, financial management, and market access to enhance competitiveness and revenues by providing training, scaling up the use of digital market information systems, and facilitating market linkages. At the same time, the Activity trained farmers in key agricultural methods, including integrated soil fertility management, integrated pest management, and climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices, enabling producers to plant a variety of resilient and nutritious crops, produce higher yields, and ultimately increase incomes and food security. Jeanne D’Arc Uwemeyimana, a farmer from Gatsibo District, said that her yield of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes dramatically increased after Hinga Weze provided her with improved vines for cultivation. “I used to harvest around 10 tons of vines on one hectare but I am now harvesting between 30 and 45 tons per hectare. I am also multiplying the vines and, once harvested, supplying them to clients linked to me by Hinga Weze,” she said. The Activity also strengthened extension services by supporting the Government of Rwanda’s Twigire Muhinzi national extension program and equipping farmer promoters, farmer field school facilitators (FFS), and youth to provide in-person and digital extension services to farmers. Overall, 500 government staff, 45 Master Trainers, 100 FFS facilitators and 133 youth were trained in agricultural extension and climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices by the end of the Activity. Promoting resilience to a changing climate Rains in many Rwandan districts are no longer reliable, droughts are prolonged, and when it does rain, flooding is often extensive. To help farmers boost their resilience to climate change, Hinga Weze introduced smart climate-agriculture practices that improved productivity, while protecting the environment for future generations. In the drought-prone Eastern Province, Hinga Weze introduced good agricultural practices and small-scale irrigation technology (SSIT) in response to rampant droughts. Jean Nepomuscene Gasana, the president of the 28-member farmer cooperative Abahuje-Akabuga in Gatsibo District explained how the cooperative used to have poor harvests during Season C because it was always dry. Today, thanks to the solar-powered irrigation from Hinga Weze, they are now utilizing all three agricultural seasons to plant fruits and vegetables. Angelique Umwali, the Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Development in Bugesera District, also praised Hinga Weze for “playing a big role in increasing agricultural yields since only 3,800 hectares were previously irrigated in Bugesera District.” Hinga Weze estimates that by the end of 2022, these interventions will result in 300 hectares of agriculture land irrigated with SSIT, benefiting over 1,200 smallholder farmers. In some of the hilliest parts of Rwanda where farmers faced floods and other impacts of climate change, Hinga Weze partnered with districts and communities to establish and rehabilitate 2,000 hectares of radical and progressive terraces. The terraces, which were built with water catchments and lined with agroforestry trees and elephant grass, are expected to benefit over 8,000 farmers, increasing their farming yield and incomes. Overall, these initiatives resulted in 5,500 hectares of agricultural land being treated with lime and 200,000 farming households increasing their agricultural productivity by 50 percent at the Activity’s close in 2022. Putting women, youth and persons with disabilities at the center of initiatives As a key component of its social inclusion strategy, Hinga Weze partnered with women, youth, and persons with disabilities to provide agricultural equipment, income-generating assets, improved seed varieties, and more through grants and training on farming, entrepreneurship, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture. Using the Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) approach, women and men were trained on joint planning, saving for a purpose, family budgeting, leadership, and good feeding practices. At least five microfinance institutions were also supported to develop five products tailored to the needs of women. Meanwhile, over 14,500 youth benefitted from Hinga Weze support by participating in “Youth for Change” activities on nutrition messaging, agribusiness development, extension, and accessing capital through grants and loans. Persons with disabilities were also assisted to access special grants and customized equipment, helping them reach new markets and participate in productive farming activities. One example of this is the Mageragere Cooperative located in Rutsiro District, which is run by and for persons with disabilities. Mageragere received a grant worth over $8,000 to acquire maize shelling equipment and tricycles to transport their produce to local markets, helping them increase their productivity and incomes. Easing farmer’s access to finance and business development service providers To enhance growth across the targeted value chains, Hinga Weze trained farmers, input suppliers, and buyers in business development, financial literacy, and loan management to strengthen their credit worthiness and access to agricultural finance. The Activity partnered with a series of financial institutions and business development service providers to create agricultural loan products and processes that meet the needs of smallholder farmers and facilitate their timely access to markets. Hinga Weze also created and strengthened solidarity savings groups that mobilized farmers to save and build assets through the collective mobilization of capital. This gradually increased their savings and bankability. These savings groups were able to purchase agricultural inputs, low-cost post-harvest handling equipment, and small livestock for their members and encourage income diversification, specifically by establishing small businesses. In the end, members were able to improve their financial inclusion and capacity to invest in farming. Agrodealers were also strengthened through technical assistance and certification programs facilitated by the Activity. Today, some of them are able to advance inputs to farmers for payment after harvest, supporting smallholders to access inputs even in the absence of cash, guaranteeing continued improvement in productivity and incomes. To further expand access to finance, Hinga Weze made good use of digital financial services, which enabled farmers in rural areas to conduct transactions efficiently and reliably, and remotely. The Activity aims to have 63,746 individuals participating in group-based savings, microfinance, and lending programs with the ultimate goal of farmers receiving $5,650,000 in agriculture-related finance. Addressing malnutrition The Activity also implemented nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions that increased agricultural productivity, while supporting farmers to grow nutritious foods for consumption and sale, which increased their incomes, nutrient uptake, dietary diversity, and food security. Alphonsine Nirere, mother of two, reflected that before joining a Hinga Weze care group in 2017, she did not have access to a nutritious or varied diet. As a result, she lacked vital nutrients during her pregnancy and her children were born with mild signs of cognitive impairment. She recalled the difficulties she went through saying, “When I was pregnant, I did not know I was malnourished but unfortunately this affected my babies. It is a miracle that my first born is alive because I nearly lost my own life when I was pregnant,” Nirere recalls. Nirere is a resident of Nyabihu, one of the districts in the Western Province where many children and pregnant mothers with a lack of sufficiently nutritious diets, resulting in increased rates of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Stunting is also above the national average at 40 percent compared to 33 percent (Demographic Health Survey Report 2019 – 2021). In total, at least 83 care groups like Nirere’s were supported to establish poultry businesses, enabling 10,233 women and children to consume eggs and thousands of households to increase incomes. Hinga Weze also provided seedlings, promoted the establishment of household gardens and developed a cell kitchen where parents were introduced to methods for cooking meals for children under two. At least 35,573 households were supported with nutrition guidelines and support during the Activity’s five years of implementation. Simultaneously, over 32,000 children under two were reached with interventions to reduce malnutrition and over 60,000 households established home kitchen gardens. Hinga Weze is a five-year initiative implemented by a consortium of local and international organizations and led by U.S.-based agricultural development organization Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA).

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FEATURED: How Hinga Weze supported smallholder farmers to improve crop productivity, incomes and nutritional status