Gicumbi farmers reap big from cooperative farming, marketing

Claudine Musabyimana gestures as if to emphasise a point. A moment later, she picks a seedling, plants it in a hole and gently fills the hole with soil. She repeats the routine as a group of curious farmers keenly observe the exercise. The group is undergoing instruction on recommended spacing for tomatoes. Musabyimana, a resident of Kagwa village, Kageyo sector Gicumbi District, is a farming instructor at the Indangamirwa Farmers Cooperative, which comprises members from her locality. Because of her love for farming, Musabyimana has been able to bring together 50 farmers ato train them in modern farming practices. She says this strategy has enabled the group to reap big from agriculture through increased productivity. Musabyimana mainly practices crop husbandry. She says growing multiple types of crops has helped her improve her household income and livelihood, as well as that of her family. Those who know Musabyimana say her story is a mark of endurance, courage, determination, passion for farming, and willingness to take risks in the farming business. How she started Previously, Musabyimana used to work in other people’s gardens before she threw in the towel to start her own projects. She says she started by growing maize and tomatoes. After some time, she mobilised other farmers to form a cooperative. She says the idea was to learn from each other and also to save for farm input, like seeds and fertilisers. Like many successful entrepreneurs, Musabyimana always believed in working together, something she says has been key to her success as a model farmer. She says the self-help group, Indangamirwa Farmers Cooperative that was formed in 2014 aimed at improving agriculture among farmers in her community, and in Gicumbi District, in general. The move, according to Musabyimana has been critical in helping improve crop production. “Through the group, we were able to consolidate our land and other resources, but most importantly, we shared knowledge and experience. All these enabled us enhance our farming skills and eventually increased output,” she says. She adds that the strategy also worked for her when it came to marketing her produce. “Forming the cooperative helped us to ably respond to new challenges in the sector, including access to markets, which required a more innovative approach,” says the 48-year-old farmer. Musabyimana says that working through cooperatives is instrumental in boosting crop production of smallholders farmers since they are able to learn modern farming practices as a team. Musabyimana also attributes her success to the intervention of Land Husbandry Water Harvesting and Hillside Irrigation (LWH) project in Gicumbi, saying the project equipped with modern and commercialised farming skills. “Through the project, I was able to diversify and ventured into more productive crops. For example, I was able to understand the whole concept of intercropping and things like mulching, irrigation and post-harvest handling of produce that helped me reduce losses,” she says. Achievements From one hectare of land, Musabyimana and her group now carryout their farming activities on four hectares of land. This has enabled her and the cooperative to producce more and, hence, increase their profits. The model farmer grows beans, maize, onions, tomatoes and Irish potatoes. It is from these crops that the mother of four has been able to raise school fees for her children on top of giving them a decent living. Musabyimana harvests at least 14 tonnes of bush beans per season from less than 100kg when she started out 20 years ago. The farmer pockets more than Rwf500,000 per season. Musabyimana notes that her experience as an instructor and model farmer has, not only earned her respect among her peers, but also won her awards as a field instructor. “I now spend most of my time sharing my experience with other farmers,” she says. She says, previously, the coop members led hard lives as they were not earning enough from their efforts. Cooperative members learn modern agronomic practices. (Peterson Tumwebaze) However, this has since changed, thanks to improved crop productivity that has boosted their earnings through cooperative marketing,” Musabyimana narrates. She says she has built confidence and trust among farmers, which has helped the group to attract funders from various credit institutions. The group, which meets once every week, deliberates social and economic issues that affect their lives, such as hygiene, nutrition, savings, and compost manure-making. The also discuss ways how they can help the most needy members, better and sustainable farming practices, among others. “We market and sell our produce collectively and improve the bargaining power of each member, and also helped improve our standards of living.” Following the increased crop produce, Indagamirwa came up with an idea of starting tree tomato project in order to fulfil economic and financial needs of the members. Farmers recognise that tree tomato can bring newfound prosperity to their community. Challenges Like most farmers, Musabyimana’s worries start with soil erosion, prolonged droughts, floods and access to markets among many others. She also says that post harvest handling models is still a challenge among her group members, though efforts by government to address the problem are ongoing. Most of the crops we grow are perishable and therefore need to be sold as fast as possible. She is, however, hopeful about government’s recent strategy to construct more than 20 modern markets as a great step towards addressing the challenge. “It means I will have nothing to worry about when it comes to finding the market for my produce.” Future plans Musabyimana says she will continue encouraging farmers to join cooperatives as the only alternative of bettering agriculture in the country. She also dreams of exporting her produce to the neighbouring markets outside Rwanda. “Rwanda imports a lot of agricultural produce from countries like Uganda and Tanzania, we also must ensure we send our produce to the markets to be able to balance trade.” Advice to farmers The world is changing and so must farming evolve to meet the new global market demands and this is only possible when we work together as farmers, embrace modern practices like mechanisation and value addition to remain competitive. What farmers say about Musabyimana Aline Kamikazi, a farmer and cooperative member, says Musabyimana is a hard working and innovative woman, who always does her things differently. She is positive and always wants to try out new things,” Kamikazi says. business@newtimes.co.rw

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Gicumbi farmers reap big from cooperative farming, marketing