One year and half ago, Chantal Uwizeyimana moved from full-time subsistence farming and started a small retail business with hope of increasing her revenue and improving the living conditions of her family.

The 25-year-old resident of Gasaka Sector, Nyamagabe District, owns a small stall, just metres from the city centre where she sells fresh vegetables.

Because her profits remain low due to the little capital she invested, Uwizeyimana still balances her small-time business with farming, temporarily working on her field to supplement what she gets from trade.

However, the mother of two remains optimistic that her business will grow and transform into a sustainable source of income for her family – hence fulfill her teenage dream.

"What I earn here is far beyond what I got when I entirely relied on subsistence farming,” Uwizeyimana says.

"With this money, I can afford some basic needs of my family like food and community health insurance,” she adds, noting that in the past, she struggled to raise enough money to live on.

Uwizeyimana is one of the many residents in Nyamagabe who now believe that there are opportunities to transform their conditions and live far better lives than in the past.

Not so many years ago, Nyamagabe wore the ugly tag of the country’s "poorest region” and many of its populace relied solely on subsistence farming, whose production was poor due to the region’s arid soils.

For many, the chance of living a better life in Nyamagabe, which was then known as Gikongoro, was just a pipe dream and many migrated to other parts of the country in the quest for improved lives.

But, today, residents – like Uwizeyimana – believe the area has got several opportunities for development and hope their lives will continue to improve as poverty levels drop.

The residents, who have since seen consistent and positive transformation of their areas in the last few years, say they witnessed changes have invigorated their hope into better lives.

"The town has been growing at a remarkable pace,” says Geraldine Benegusenga, a fruit vendor. "And there is a significant improvement in the quality of lives of those living in rural areas mainly due to policies and programmes that increased food and agriculture production.

"There are several model villages that have been set up and the quality of residential houses has improved across the district and all of that is a testimony that something good is happening out there in our communities.”

The perceived improvement in people’s lifestyles is also supported by statistics.

The 2010 integrated Household Living Conditions Survey indicated that about 73.4 per cent of the district’s total population were below the poverty line, while the figures today stand at only about 40 per cent per cent.

Mindset change

Local authorities have attributed the improvement to mainly a positive shift in attitudes among the populace.Nyamagabe mayor Philbert Mugisha said the shift in attitudes played a key role in driving the socio-economic transformation of local residents.

"Mindset change remains the most important factor behind the transformation,” Mugisha says. "Residents have understood that their role in championing improved lives is critical and actively stood up for that.”

According to Mugisha, residents play an important part in the elaboration and execution of performance contracts, something he says is also contributing to ensuring a steady and constant growth within the local community.

"Today, Nyamagabe is no longer the land of famine and hunger as it had that tag for many years. We can now proudly say the district is food-secure,” Mugisha said.

"And, despite the significant step they have taken, our residents continue to work hard to keep improving and that is something really that gives hope that tomorrow will even be better.”

"There is that [food] security and stability which is allowing us to focus much more on further improvement,” he added.

Infrastructure such as roads, electricity, water access, health facilities and schools, have as well been increasing and improving, impacting the lives of the local residents.

For instance, electricity access grew from 2.3 per cent in 2010 to the current 15 per cent, according to the mayor.

Health centres were constructed in almost every sector in the district and more health posts are being constructed with the target of ensuring that patients access health services at a distance of not beyond five kilometres from their houses, Mugisha notes.

"We have grouped the most vulnerable persons into viable cooperatives and offered them support, particularly through the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), which has helped them improve their livelihoods,” Emile Byiringiro, the vice mayor for social affairs, said.

VUP is an integrated local development initiative which was initiated to accelerate poverty eradication, rural growth and social protection.

"Apart from the direct support to the most vulnerable individuals, VUP has also created hundreds of jobs for residents – something that helped reduce poverty levels,” Byiringiro notes.

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