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FOOD PRODUCTION: Gisagara, Rwanda




COMMUNITY-IDENTIFIED PROBLEM
Food Insecurity




COMMUNITY-DESIGNED SOLUTION
This community is currently in the MicroGrant process.
   







Metric to measure progress: TBD

Number of participants: 87

Background:
Ndatemwa Village in Gisagara is a community of Batwa living in the Southern Province of Rwanda. The Batwa are a resource poor and marginalized ethnic group, comprising about .4% of the country's population. Many members of the Gisagara community make and sell clay pots in the marketplace for a living, though this is a time consuming process that yields little return. Women walk two hours to collect clay for their pots, then they must walk miles to the nearest market where their pots cell for about $0.17. Soil in southern rwanda is far less fertile than that in the north, making it especially difficult to produce enough food during the dry seasons. Gisagara has also raised the concern of a jigger infestation, which can seriously affect quality of life. 

Over the past several months, Spark has been working with Gisagara to identify their greatest need. The community has collectively decided that they would like to solve the dire problem of food insecurity, and possibly to address the problem of jiggers once their food security grant has gotten off the ground. They have formed an association of 87 members with a president, vice president, secretary and security officer. The association has narrowed their focus to either cassava farming or animal husbandry and, over the course of the next several weeks, they will be collectively deciding on one project and drawing up their grant proposal.

Facilitator:

Gloriose Isugi Dada, Muhire Claude

Quotes:



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