How a revolving fund will boost women’s poverty fight

ActionAid Rwanda has offered a grant to support women cooperatives in three sectors of Nyanza District. The Rwf4million grant will act as a revolving fund for each of the four cooperatives engaged in bee keeping, mushroom growing, farming and livestock keeping from Rwabicuma, Busasamana and Mucingo sectors,. The grant has generated excitement among the cooperative members, with many of them arguing that it provides a major boost to accessing of credit facilities necessary for the implementation of their goals. “This grant is a welcome gesture,” said Jeanette Kanzaire of Twisungane, one of the cooperatives. The 25-member cooperative started in 2009 as an association before being transformed into a cooperative to engage in mushroom production. “The grant addresses what we have been complaining about all along, that access to credit facilities is not easy without security,” Kanzaire added. Speaking to The New Times, ActionAid Country Director, Josephine Uwamariya, said their intervention is robust. Through partnership between ActionAid and the Women’s Network for Rural Development commonly called (Reseaux Des Femmes), the members also benefit from a training component where women and youth receive training on nutrition, food security and credit and saving schemes. Uwamariya, noted that their goal was to fight poverty among rural women, ensure food security and nutritional feeding starting with women in selected areas, and once that is achieved, the projects can be replicated in other parts of the. “One of the reasons why ActionAid has started a revolving fund for women is that they face difficulties accessing credit facilities without collateral. We are now providing this grant to help them sustain their projects, we want to transform rural areas,” she said. Beata Busasa, the national coordinator of Reseaux Des Femmes appeals to women to adopt a savings culture, seek agricultural information and credit to improve their farming activities. ActionAid initially provided support in form of cash and livestock to the cooperatives. james.tasamba@newtimes.co.rw

National

How a revolving fund will boost women’s poverty fight