Poverty and food scarcity were for long associated with residents of Murama sector in Ngoma District. Though they had enough arable land, the residents of Murama sector had for years lacked food and struggled with poverty. Parents could not afford to send their children to school. However, this was to become history following the introduction of co-operative farming in the area by one of the residents.

Poverty and food insecurity were for long associated with residents of Murama sector in Ngoma District, Eastern Province. They had enough arable land, but residents had for years lacked food and lived in poverty. Parents could not afford to send their children to school.

"I had over 10 hectares of land but I never had enough food for the family. I was living on hand-to-mouth,” says Jean Pierre Baziruhunguka. However, all this was to change after Baziruhunguka was selected in 2011 to attend a training workshop on the benefits of working in co-operatives conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture.

He says the training was an eye opener, leading to the creation of Rebakure Murama Co-operative, a farmers group that mobilised residents to engage in food production, a move that has since made the area food secure, improved living standards of households and contributed to sector’s development.

Co-operative farming, marketing

Baziruhunguka, the brain behind Rebakure Murama Co-operative, says after the training, he mobilised residents, educating them about the benefit of working in groups and how they would easily access government support in cooperatives. Within days he had registered 90 people, 45 women and 45 men.

To join the co-operative, one was required to pay Rwf1,000, but this did not deter the residents who were joining the group in big numbers. As they say, the rest is history, and now the co-oprerative boasts of 568 members.

According to Baziruhunguka, who is also the group’s chairman, the members grow a variety of crops, including rice, maize, beans and coffee. However, maize is the main crop grown by members. As they were starting out in 2011, Rebakure Murama Co-operative formed a partnership with another co-operative in the district that provided members manure and trained farmers in proper crop husbandry, he adds.

Within a year, members’ fortunes had turned around as the group produced a combined 50 tonnes of maize, excluding what they used for home consumption.

Baziruhunguka says the co-operative used some of the money to buy about 120 hectares of land to expand the farming enterprise in 2013, a move that paid off with harvest of over 150 tonnes.

"The following year, we bought another 400 hectares of land, which helped us to increase output further to 435 tonnes of maize that we sold at Rwf170 per kilo.Last year, we used 450 hectares of land and produced 540 tonnes of maize, which was sold at Rwf200/kilo. This year, the co-operative produced 759 tonnes of maize, and sold each kilogramme at Rwf230,” Baziruhunguka explains.

He says the co-operative is looking to buy more land and diversify the enterprise to ensure maximum gain from their farming activities.

Market

The co-operative has three major buyers of its produce, including Sarura, Pam and Rwanda Grains and Cereals Corporation.

"These have been the main buyer of our produce for the last four years…they have also provided us with the technical support on proper produce storage,” Baziruhunguka adds.

Fighting poverty, lack of food in homes

Baziruhunguka says the co-operative has trained members in modern farming practices, helping increase volumes and boost post-harvest handling that has enhanced quality along the value chain.

"People used to lack food when they had land, but that has now become history in Murama sector. Members have enough food for home consumption and what to sell to earn money to cater for other basic needs,” he says.

He asserts that the group has also further united people "because we are always together most of the times. Members help each other in many ways, including advancing soft loans, in case one wants to attend to any emergency, but does not have money.

"Co-operative marketing has improved household incomes and living conditions of our people, many of whom now have television sets in their homes and are now connected to the outside world. They are also able to pay fees for their children and medical insurance subscription with ease, adds. "We have also bought a truck that transports our produce to the market, which, to us, is a great milestone,” the chairman adds.

In 2011, the cooperative earned just Rwf180,000 from their initial harvest, but today they have pocketed over Rwf250 million in the past two years.

"We have also bought more land worth Rwf4.3 million to expand farming activities,” Baziruhunguka notes.

He says the co-operative has grown into one of the biggest farmer cooperatives in the Ngoma District. The group won last year’s Best Performing Co-operative in the district.

He says members can now afford to pay for health insurance with ease, something that was not possible few years ago. The group has also created jobs for other people, especially unemployed school dropouts.

Currently, Rebakure Murama Cooperative employs six permanent staff - a bookkeeper, cashier, security guard, driver, conductor and marketer.

Partners

Rebakure Co-operative has been able to register all this success, thanks to massive support from both the government and other partners, according to officials. Sacco Murama gave them Rwf12.5 million in 2013, which they used to buy land and build offices and to buy machines to keep their maize for a long time without going bad.

They also secured Rwf12 million from Urwego Opportunity Bank that was used to buy a truck to transport produce to the market.

The group also bought machines to shred maize, which saves time compared to using hands to do the job. PASP, which is one of their sponsors, also advanced them Rwf50 million to construct warehouses for the produce. Later, when they increased production, the Ministry of Agriculture constructed for them another warehouse worth Rwf111 million.

Challenges

Despite the huge strides taken thus far, the co-operative faces many challenges, including lack of access to funds because banks are reluctant to lend to farmers, arguing that they do not have the capacity to repay the loans.

Weather vagaries also affect their crops and, hence productivity and earnings. Baziruhunguka says transporting produce to Kigali is costly, noting that if there was small processing plant the problem would be solved.

Future prospects

The cooperative plans to expand production capacity and are eying the regional market in two years, according to Baziruhunguka.

He reveals that the farmers co-operative has been able to earn over Rwf250 million in three years, saying, "We hope to continue with that pace so that we even construct our own maize mill.”

What members say

Jean Pierre Iyamuremye, a member of the co-operative, says his family now gets enough food and even sells some of the produce through the group to earn money to cater for his other needs.

Nadine Uwanziga, a resident, says the co-operative was God-send to the community. "We have benefited a lot from this co-operative…I am lucky because the government gave me a dairy cow under Girinka programme, now we use its droppings to manure for my crops, including soya beans, maize, rice and even coffee, which has increased production.”