SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda in collaboration with Bugesera District launched a solar-powered irrigation system in Gashora Sector to support fifteen vulnerable families to eradicate poverty.
The project launch was led by Jean Bosco Kwizera, the National Director of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda, the Mayor of Bugesera District, Richard Mutabazi, and the Secretary Executive of Gashora Sector, Marie Claire Umurisa.
The National Director stated that they had decided to build a solar-powered irrigation system to assist Gashora families in eradicating poverty through smart farming agriculture.
“Gashora is one of the drought area with insufficient rainfalls below 700mm per year, which hampers agricultural production. We decided to establish a solar-powered irrigation system to strengthen vulnerable families through the irrigation system.”
Jean Bosco added that the target of this project is to facilitate 300 families through smart farming agriculture. He added, “Normally, the soil of Bugesera is well fertilized, but the issue is drought. The Green Project established an irrigation system to support vulnerable families to grow their crops to take better care of their children."
The Mayor of Bugesera District, Richard Mutabazi, urged the residents to safeguard the solar-powered irrigation system for their interest and the District at large.
Mutabazi said, “We appreciate the support of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda, who provide us with this solar-powered irrigation system. This is a great opportunity for Gashora’s farmers. Our role is to benefit from it and protect it."
He added that Bugesera District acknowledges the support of SOS Children’s Villages in Rwanda. “We appreciate your assistance in our District and hope to have more non-governmental organizations that support vulnerable families from the grassroots level."
Callixte Munganyiki one of the beneficiaries of the Green Project said that SOS Children’s Villages has provided us with training on climate-smart farming practices and modern livestock keeping.
Callixte said, “They instructed us on how to manage our savings before we spent all generated income on non-profitable things. Currently, we have established Village Savings and Loan Associations where each member contributes within an annual cycle. At the end of the year, we distribute the accumulated amount and the interest earned based on individual savings to support the development of our families”.
Green Project is being implemented in Bugesera district supporting 100 families with 518 Children through different interventions of the project including economic empowerment, climate-smart agriculture, environmental conservation, education, and health and is supporting 20 home-based ECDs with 80 ECD caregivers.
In addition, the project is working closely with 95 child protection networks including friends of families local authorities and other NGOs operating in the same scope as the Green Project.
The green project aims at building the capacity of families through strengthening the cooperative known as KOAKU Gashora towards self-reliance to allow its members to respond to the needs of their children. All project interventions implemented under the green project impacted the lives of the project participants.