This Newsletter is all about the agriculture development work of the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (HMODF) and our efforts for collaboration with the Free Methodist Church of Burundi (FMCoB), Hope Africa University (HAU), Friends of Hope Africa University (FHAU) and the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates.
Overview on Our Agriculture Development Projects
The HMODF is doing very, very well; we continue to have impressive results and benefits (see https://haleymccreadyfund.com/2023/12/). We have 39 development projects, 7 of which began without a grant from the Canadian Haley-McCready Outreach and Development Fund (H-MODF). We have 467 beneficiaries, mostly poor and vulnerable women organized into self-help associations. Our projects cultivate a variety of crops and produce a large number of harvests, mostly grains and vegetables. By the end of 2023, our projects reported they had a total of 856 animals, mostly goats and pigs. The projects have sold a total of 500 animals and engaged in microfinancing to generate income for the associations and our beneficiaries and their family members.
Our projects become self-supporting, self-governing and self-sustaining and our projects alleviate poverty and improve the lives of our beneficiaries their family members. Our impressive results and benefits have only been possible because of our committed long-term, volunteer Project Managers and our hard-working Project Beneficiaries.
Although the HMODF agriculture development projects have been very successful, the Project Managers have been HAU graduates who live in Bujumbura and must commute to their projects and meet with their beneficiaries. Although our Project Managers have HAU university degrees, they have not been trained in agriculture methods and they have not been able to provide training on more productive agriculture methods for their beneficiaries who generally use less productive traditional agriculture methods.
Opportunity to Do More and Do Better
Now that HAU has an Agriculture Program that produces many Graduates each year, we have a new, exciting and very important opportunity to reach out and attract the Agriculture Program Graduates to become HMODF Project Managers who live in their home communes and who know how to train the Project Beneficiaries to use more productive agriculture methods. We can also reach out to HAU Agriculture Program Graduates who can connect, train and support the beneficiaries of our existing HMODF projects and those of other community agriculture groups and projects in their communes. We are already seizing the opportunity to do more and do better.
Collaboration on Agriculture in Burundi
Since September 2021, the HMODF Advisory Committee has supported and encouraged our efforts to collaborate with the Free Methodist Church of Burundi (FMCoB), Hope Africa University (HAU) and Friends of Hope Africa University (FHAU) on agriculture development in Burundi. Some considerable progress is being made.
Agriculture Development Workshop
In collaboration with the FMCoB, HAU, FHAU and the HMODF; a Partner Organization to the HAU Agriculture Program, a very successful one-day collaborative Agriculture Development Workshop was held on February 10, 2023. For the time, the Workshop brought together the key leadership and agriculture personnel from the Church, the University, Friends and the Haley McCready Fund and, for the first time, Friends provided a small budget to support a special event.
Collaborating with HAU Agriculture Program Graduates
The HAU Agriculture Program Graduates have the potential to play a very important role in agriculture development throughout Burundi. With direct support and assistance from Cyprien NTUNZWENIMANA, the Head of the HAU Agriculture Program, the HMODF is reaching out and collaborating with the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates.
Collaborating with HAU Agriculture Graduates makes good strategic sense; the Agriculture Program Graduates know about more productive agriculture methods and they are expected to return to their home communes to help community farmers switch from less productive traditional agriculture methods to more productive agricultural methods. When we have reached out to selected Agriculture Program Graduates and invited them to visit our agriculture development projects, they are impressed with our project development model, our project associations and our hard-working, productive beneficiaries and the way they are working together.
The Agriculture Program Graduates have been immediately interested and willing to become volunteer Project Managers for new HMODF projects in their home communes and volunteer Connected Resource Persons for our existing HMODF projects in their home communes. It is obvious that the HAU Agriculture Graduates want and need opportunities to use their newly acquired skills to help community farmers benefit from productive agriculture development methods and projects.
Collaboration on Project Development and Management
The Canadian H-MODF recently provided grants to three agriculture development projects that are being managed by four Project Managers who are HAU Agriculture Program Graduates (see names, provinces and communes below).
- BIKORIMANA Alfred, MWARO, KAYOKWE
- NIYONKURU, Mathieu, CIBITOKE, RUGOMBO
- NIYIBIKUNZE, Christian and SIBOMANA, Nelly, BUJUMBURA, ISALE
The HMODF has already connected 12 HAU Agriculture Program Graduates with our existing HMODF projects in their home communes (see names, provinces and communes below).
- NIYONYISHU, Fredieve, BUGANZA, MPANDA, MUZINDA-MUSENYI
- NKURUNZIZA Jean Luc, BUJUMBURA, MUTIMBUZI
- ICOYITUNGIYE Divine, BUJUMBURA, NYABIRABA, MATARA
- NIHORIMBERE Alice, BUJUMBURA, NYABIRABA, MATARA
- IRANDIHA Emmanuel, CIBITOKE, BUGANDA, NDAVA
- BIGIRIMANA, Sadi, CIBITOKE, BUGANDA, NDAVA
- NIBIZI, Denise, GITEGA, BUKIRASAZI
- NISHIMWE Eduige, GITEGA, BUKIRASAZI
- NDAYISHIMIYE Therence, GITEGA, BUKIRASAZI
- NININAHAZWE Christine, KAYANZA, KABAORE
- BUTOYI Anne, RUTANA, RUTANA
- IRAKOZE Audreille, RUTANA, RUTANA
HMODF Project Managers and HAU Agriculture Program Graduates
The HMODF has Project Managers’ Meetings three times per year. For our January meeting, we invited and involved all of our Project Managers, including the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates who are Project Managers (4) and the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates who are connected to our existing projects in their home communes (12). More than 30 people attended the meeting, including four special guests. Each person was given an opportunity to introduce themselves and describe their interests in collaborating on agriculture development.
Collaboration on Project Proposal Development
The HMODF is working with HAU Agriculture Program Graduates to teach them more about the HMODF, our projects, our project development model, our Call for Proposals and our Project Proposal Outline and Format and how to prepare agriculture development project proposals and, thereby, become volunteer HMODF Project Managers. Our Program Coordinator, Rev. Dieudonne IRAMBONA, is currently meeting with some Agriculture Program Graduates who are already Project Managers and others who might submit a proposal and become HMODF Project Managers. The first meeting took place on March 24, 2024 and included 13 Graduates (see names, provinces and communes below).
- IRAKOZE Alice, BUJUMBURA, MUTIMBUZI
- NKURUNZIZA Jean Luc, BUJUMBURA, MUTIMBUZI
- HATUNGIMANA Jean Bosco, BUJUMBURA, MUTIMBUZI
- ICOYITUNGIYE Divine, BUJUMBURA, NYABIRABA, MATARA
- NIHORIMBERE Alice, BUJUMBURA, NYABIRABA, MATARA
- NIYUBUNTU Adolphe, CIBITOKE, MURWI
- IRANDIHA Emmanuel, CIBITOKE, BUGANDA
- NDAYISHIMIYE Therence, GITEGA, BUKIRASAZI
- MANARIYO Vincent, KAYANZA, KAYANZA
- NSANZUBUMWE Evariste, KIRUNDO, BUGABIRA
- BIKORIMANA Alfred, MWARO, KAYOKWE
- BUTOYI Anne, RUTANA, RUTANA
- IRAKOZE Audreille, RUTANA, RUTANA
Doing Even More and Doing Even Better
We are pleased with the collaboration that is taking place with some of the HAU Agriculture Program Graduates and we are delighted to finally be able to have agriculture training and support for using more productive agriculture methods. We appreciate what is taking place but we would like to have even more agriculture development projects in even more provinces and communes throughout Burundi. However, the HMODF needs more financial resources in order to do more and do better.
Please consider helping us do even more and do even better by making a donation, http://haleymccreadyfund.com/u-s-donations/.