Mukanoheri Collette vigorously plucks cobs from dry maize stems. Though the sun is scorching hot, she seems not to feel the heat as she removes the dry husks and deposits the cob into a traditional basket. With other four farmers, their hands move in unison as they go about the exercise, rhythmically with the cracking sound produced by dry maize stalks and the rustling sound of dead leaves. 

Mukanoheri, a smallholder farmer in Gikenke, Musaza sector in Kirehe District, is one of hundreds of peasant farmers in the district who supply maize and beans to World Food Programme (WFP) for its operations in Rwanda under purchase for progress (P4P) initiative. Mukanoheri says she produces one tonne of maize and beans (combined) in a good season, which she sells to WFP through a local farmers’ group, Co-operative des Agriculteurs de Cereales de Musaza (COACMU). During a bad season, she gets around 800kg of both maize and beans. She says she has increased crop output over the past two years to cash-in on the ready market and good prices offered by WFP.

"The prices are good and the money comes on time,” she says. She says the reverse was true when she used to sell produce to dealers previously. She says WFP buys a kilogramme of maize at Rwf170 while beans range from Rwf280-Rwf300 per kilo. Like other smallholder farmers working with the P4P initiative, Mukanoheri is assured of a steady market for her produce and a sustainable source of income. This has enabled her to improve her living standards and those of her family with ease.

She says she has been able to build a permanent house, buy a dairy cow, and also ensure good nutrition for the family, thanks to increased food production and income to buy other required food items. "I am also not worried about money to pay for my children’s school fees,”she says, adding that she has two children in secondary school; one in Senior One and another in Senior Three.

She, however, says that despite support from WFP in form of training in farming best practices, business management and marketing, small farmers still face many challenges, including lack of quality inputs and poor roads. She says when one does not apply fertilisers, the harvest is always ‘miserable’. Mukanoheri says a 50-kg bag of DAP goes for Rwf23,750, "which is too high for small farmers like us.” She calls on the Rwanda Agriculture Board to get more involved in farmers’ affairs and provide affordable fertilisers. She urges women and peasant farmers to join co-operatives, saying that it is through such groups that they can easily access support from organisations, like WFP, and government to improve production and their livelihoods.

The agriculture sector employs over 72 per cent of the Rwandan population, making it a significant contributor to growth. Therefore, interventions like P4P are essential to support this huge segment of the economy.

WFP has spent about $6 million (around Rwf4.5 billion) in 2015 buying 14.8 tonnes of combined maize and beans food items. Over 20 per cent of the total purchases in 2015 was procured directly from the smallholder farmers under the P4P initiative.

"WFP has empowered smallholder farmers through local purchase and will continue to seek partnerships to support small farmers throughout the entire value chain,” said Jean-Pierre de Margerie, the WFP representative and country director.

The WFP chief says the organisation assures farmers of a sustainable which will help improve their incomes and livelihoods. The UN body also invests in capacity building, training farmers in post-harvest handling, "which already yielded sustainable results that will boost national food security over the long-term”. WFP’s local purchases started in 2010 and it has significantly transformed the lives of farmers, especially women.

"WFP has empowered rural farmers by giving them access to markets, credit facilities and business opportunities...P4P is a stepping-stone for many low-income women farmers to gain skills and self-confidence besides empowering them economically,” according to the organisation.

WFP Rwanda is currently taking the lead in the joint UN programme Accelerating Progress towards the Economic Empowerment of Rural Women (RWEE) through P4P. This programme is being carried out in collaboration with UN Women, FAO and IFAD.

Other farmers speak out on P4P initiative

Abdan Ndamage, farmer in Kabuga, Musaza

I have been able to build a permanent house for the family, and also bought more land (a 20 by 100 metres plot) using money from maize and beans.

Since we are paid a good price under the initiative, I am able to buy inputs like fertilisers easily compared to when we were not working with this project. Because I was assured of a ready market by WFP, I was encouraged to increase production and now I harvest about one tonne of maize and 500kg of beans each season on average.

Ildephonse Nsengimana, Kabuga Musaza

The P4P programme has boosted small farmers’ morale and this has led to increased crop production, which promotes food safety and improves household incomes.

The project has helped train the co-operative leaders to improve their business and general management skills.

Marketing in a group has given us a big voice and bargaining power, ensuring better prices. The initiative has provided peasants farmers a sustainable and ready market for the key produce. I was able to complete Senior Six because

I sold my maize through our co-operative to WFP at a good price. The initiative has also supported local development, thanks to the income residents are earning from their produce sold to WFP.

Jean de Dieu Umazekabiri COACMU committee member

There are a lot of benefits working with the P4P initiative; WFP gave us a ready market and farmers have increased production because they know we have a ready market. With the strong partnership we have with WFP, they can help us access funding from banks or inputs, like fertilisers, from dealers.

The association with them is also promoting our co-operative. However, the poor roads have killed our chances of getting other better buyers and also contributes to high cost of inputs, which affects production. Most farmers still lack market and other information that could help them improve crop husbandry practices.

The ready market provided by the P4P initiative, as well as co-operative marketing, have significantly boosted the farmers, encouraging them to enhance crop output.

We appeal to the government to work on the road and extend power to our village so that we are able to engage in agro-processing. This way, we will earn more from our produce, create jobs for youth and generally contribute more to the development of our sector and district besides improving earnings, and expanding sources of income. Industrialisation is critical for the country’s development, so government should support us contribute to these efforts.

Under the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II), government seeks to create 200,000 off farm jobs per annum. Agro-processing is one of the areas that can help achieve this goal.

Also EDPRS II supports commercial farming and agriculture modernisation, where farmers are able to produce mainly for the sale and home consumption.

business@newtimes.co.rw