Village Makeover has been involved with several projects over the past few years to bring economic sustainability to Cyanika and Kigali.
In 2006 we arranged for a group of well established business men and women to come and teach foundational business practices to hundreds of business men and women from Kigali and the surrounding areas. Many were blown away at some of the basic principles and received vision for the future of their country.
Presently:
Previously farmers stored their potatoes in a room in the house. This led to mold, mildew and diseased seed.
Diffused Light Store (DLS) – this was one of our agricultural projects which had added benefits. We were able to improve the farming community’s living standard, create business activity and employment through the DLS.
Diffused light store is a low cost method of storing seed potatoes which has been found to extend their storage life and improve their productivity. The DLS cut storage losses and increased yields, thus reducing the need to buy expensive potato seed from outside markets.
The DSL was set-up as a loan. Re-payment came through the farmers buying the clean seed for planting. This allows them to get clean seed at a lower price than the market is selling for. When using the open market they weren’t always getting clean seed and so the yields would not be what they expected.
The farmers benefited in two ways:
A proper Diffused Light Store (or storehouse) has the appropriate lighting and ventilation for potatoes to sprout without mold, mildew or disease. They also provide employment for the community.
- lower cost of clean seed for planting their fields
- the ability to maximize production, giving them increased earnings at the market
The community benefited in two ways:
- managing the DLS created employment
- the loan re-payment will be used to create micro loans for the community and more DLS’s in the future
Rabbit, Goat Project
This project is a cooperative of widows creating business activity through breeding and selling rabbits and goats.
(You can learn more about both of these projects by visiting the Agriculture/Livestock page)