The youth from the Northern Province, especially unemployed graduates now have reason to smile following the launch of a livestock project, which is expected to lift them from poverty.

The livestock project, which will put much emphasis on poultry and piggery was on Saturday initiated in Shingiro Sector of Musanze District by 20 members of the Rwandan Communities Abroad (RCAs) mainly from Canada, Belgium, Italy and Tanzania among other countries.

According to the Chairman of the Rwanda Diaspora Global Network (RDGN), Daniel Murenzi, the project intends to fast-track the progress of the youth as livestock proliferates fast.

"Today we are launching the project to a small number of the youth who are already grouped together (in cooperatives), but we are also looking forward to sensitising more youth on small livestock farming as the later multiplies very quickly,” he said

Some Rwf1.5 million was directly handed over to the Northern Province officials by RCAs to implement the project. The province was tasked to identify needy youth cooperatives, which will be supported in the near future.

Murenzi stressed that empowering the youth from different parts of the country is among the top priorities of RDGN as it seeks contribute to fighting unemployment and drug abuse among the youth.

"Supporting the youth is our initiative as Rwandan Communities living abroad who wish to see our country’s development growing,” he said, adding that; "Creating jobs for the youth will curb laziness and other vices among them, which will contribute to our country’s development.”

Some of the beneficiaries said they are ready to exploit the project to improve their wellbeing as well as shaping their future.

"We are very happy of this support offered to us as rearing pigs is a profitable business,  I can therefore assure that we have been given a significant capital which will help us overcoming the poverty,” Said Patrick Niyonkuru, one of the beneficiaries from Shingiro Sector, Musanze District

"Many of us already had ideas including this one of pig farming which we couldn’t afford to implement due to the lack of capital so the Diaspora intervention came at the right time,” he added

The Governor of the Northern Province, Jean Marie Vianney Gatabazi, commended the project launched by RCAs noting that it is a timely response to the issue of unemployment among the youth, especially those who graduate from different schools.

Apart from launching the livestock project, the members of the Rwandan Communities Abroad joined hands with Musanze locals in the community works (Umuganda), which concentrated on refurbishment of the houses for vulnerable from Shingiro Sector.

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