Sumary of the Ongoing Projects

The interventions of IMBARAGA seek to improve the wellbeing of all farmers, the organization aims at the economic development of its beneficiaries all its interventions are divided into these main groups:

–  Governance and institutional development
–  Advocacy and lobbying
–  Agriculture and livestock development
–  Environmental protection
–  Capacity building of the employees and beneficiaries

The implementation of the above-mentioned programs is done through different projects funded by donors. The following are projects implemented by IMBARAGA Farmers organisation:

1. Advocacy and lobbying program

 Public Policy Information, Monitoring and Advocacy project : This project seeks to advocate for government development projects and monitoring how they are implemented at district level. The aim is to ensure that government project and policies work to deliver improved services, especially for poor Rwandans. Public policy information, monitoring and advocacy (PPIMA) operates in ten sectors of Gakenke district. The project mainly uses the community scorecard tool and offer advice in the AJIC (Advocacy and Justice Information Centre). This project is funded by NPA.

 GPSA Project - improving citizen participation in the district imihigo performance contracts : This project is funded by the World Bank through Transparency International Rwanda. it operates in Kayonza in Eastern Province and Nyanza in Southern. This project aims at empowering farmers at District level through social accountability tools to improve performance contracts - Imihigo in Rwandan agricultural projects and strengthening citizen participation.

 Voice for Chance Program V4CP-Advocacy against malnutrition project: The project is funded by SNV seeks to advocate for improvement of food & nutrition security in Rwanda. It brings together 6 CSOs. Some of the instruments and ways used in advocacy to engage decision makers at the district and national levels.

 STATUT de l’Agriculture project: This project seeks to collect information from citizens upon which advocacy will be made among government, CSOs, farmer cooperatives and among farmers in general so that these ideas may guide the law determining agriculture in Rwanda.

 Farmers’ voice project (FVP) -–ijwiry ’abahinzin’aborozi : This project is provided with financial support of the European Union. The goal of this project is to contribute to poverty reduction and strengthened food security by promoting farmer centered policies through enhanced civil society and farmers’ organizations engagement in Rwanda. The specific objective is to strengthen the voice of famers’ organisations in agricultural policy making, planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation in seven target districts: Ruhango, Burera, Rulindo, Rubavu, Rutsiro, Kayonza and Gatsibo.

2. Agricultural Development Programs

 Huguka Dukore Akazi Kanoze project : This project is funded by EDC with the objective of Increasing stable Employment for Vulnerable Youth through: Improved employ-ability skills for vulnerable male and female youth; Increased viable self-employment among vulnerable male and female youth and Higher quality, more coordinated workforce development service delivery system. It operates in Musanze, Nyabihu and Rubavu districts.
Its main role is in training and monitoring of activities. However, important to note is that the trainings are conducted by experts from ‘akazi kanoze access’ program under the themes of creating income generating projects, finding the market and selling of the products.
 Feed the Future HINGA WEZE : This project is funded by USAID through CNFA and aims at increasing agricultural productivity, expanding farmers’ access to markets and improving nutritional outcome of agriculture interventions. Its operates in Nyabihu, Rutsiro, Ngororero, Nyamasheke, and Karongi (Western Province) ; and Nyamagabe (Southern Province).

 Green Energy and Livestock Project (Projet Energie Verte et Elevage – EVE Project) : This project aims at promoting small livestock farming among poor families, promoting animal health services to improve animal production and the use of bio-gas energy produced by cow dung. The project is mainly funded by the Belgian Government (DGD) through VSF - Belgium. It operates in Huye, Nyamagabe, NyanzaandRuhangodistricts in the Southern Province. Ruhango district is only concerned with biogas promotion.

 Gestion Agricole GEA: This project is funded by AFDI Loraine and operates in 10 districts of Rwanda distributed into 11 zones, with 25 groups. The said districts are: Nyanza, Ruhango, Muhanga, Kamonyi, Gakenke, Musanze, Nyabihu, Rubavu, Nyagatare and Bugesera. The project mobilises farmers to count cost invested and to select the most profitable crop more than other and they do this during farming seasons A and B.

 Fight against malnutrition project– ‘secualim’ : The project is funded by MLFM, it operates in buyoga sector in mu Rulindo district. The objective of the project is to support the most vulnerable farmers targeting specifically families with stunted children, breast feeding mothes and/or pregnant women.

Due to the existing collaboration with the sector leadership, the project is often called to support in times of disaster (strong erosions, floods…).

 E-granary: This project is funded by IFAD and EAFF is responsible of the project coordination at EAC region. The objective of the project is to improve the income and living standards of participating e-Granary smallholder farmers in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.

 Youth Project : The project aims at scaling up rural Youth access to inclusive financial services for entrepreneurship and employment. The project is funded by IFAD through EAFF

3. Environmental Protection

 Trees for Food Security project, T4FS : The project is funded by ICRAF and operates in Nyabihu and Rubavu districts. Its objective is TO contribute to the reduction poverty and strengthened food security through agro forestry and contribution to the environmental protection. The main project participate in fighting erosion by planting trees that are rich in soil organic matter (alnus, acacia; …) and edible fruits such as avocadoes, tree tomatoes; …).

 The EVE project already described before also contributes to environment protection via the use of biogas which contributes to reduction of deforestation and reduction of greenhouse gas emission.

Lesson learnt from our field experience

During the past ten years, Imbaraga Federation has established partnerships with various organizations of civil society at local and international levels. These partnerships have multifaceted reality on the ground through the defense of socio-economic rights of our members which is evidenced by active participation in the development and popularization of the Land Law in Rwanda, the struggle for remunerative prices of potatoes for producers in the North and Northwest of the country; the development of the value chain of washed potatoes in northern province that provide more value to producers, obtaining legal personality as an organization of
Professionals in the agricultural sector, the production and popularization of internal policy documents that we use as a reference tool in our trade union action, especially the policy of lobbying and advocacy, the gender policy; etc.