The US-based Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund is pleased to announce that we have two more agriculture development projects.
As a result of our the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund (HMODF) Call for Proposals 2025 and recommendations from the Burundi Advisory Committee, we now have two new agriculture development projects, one new Project Manager and our first project in Rumonge Province.
So, after our Call for Proposals, the HMODF now has:
- A total of 38 agriculture development projects
- A total of 453 project beneficiaries, mostly women
- An estimated 2,718 benefitting family members
- A total of 16 Project Managers
- Our first agriculture development project in RUMONGE Province
Two New Agriculture Development Projects:
- Empowering Vulnerable Women from Butaramuka Colline, Mugina Commune in Cibitoke Province through Cultivating Crops and Breeding Pigs – Experienced Project Manager: Audace MPAWENIMANA
- Supporting Vulnerable Women from Gishirwe Colline in Bugarama Commune, Rumonge Province through Cultivating Crops and Breeding Pigs – New Project Manager: Euphraim NDIKUMWENAYO
Two Project Summary Descriptions:
Project Title:
Empowering Vulnerable Women from Butaramuka Colline, Mugina Commune in Cibitoke Province through Cultivating Crops and Breeding Pigs
Experienced Project Manager:
Audace MPAWENIMANA is a long-term volunteer Project Manager with over ten years of experience in community development and poverty alleviation. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Hope Africa University (2013). Since 2014, he has volunteered with the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund, focusing on empowering poor women through microfinance and crop cultivation. Working in collaboration with churches and community mobilizations, Audace has spearheaded impactful initiatives in capacity building, livelihoods, and community empowerment. His leadership is marked by measurable results, strong collaboration and a deep commitment to sustainable development. Audace is a pastor in the Free Methodist Church in Burundi.
Introduction
Cibitoke Province is on the western side of Burundi, bordering on the Democratic Republic of Congo on the east and Rwanda on the north. Mugina Commune and Butaramuka Colline are located north of Bujumbura. Rural communities often face challenges such as food insecurity, lack of financial resources and limited opportunities for women to achieve financial independence. Limited income opportunities and poor access to resources hinder the economic stability of women in rural areas. Mugina Commune has the same challenges as other rural communities but the challenges and vulnerabilities for women and their families are especially present in Butaramuka Colline.
We all know that women in Burundi are expected to be the pillar of development and play special roles in family and community development. Some forms of vulnerability that are way too common amongst the women in Butaramuka Colline are women who are poor, jobless and landless, women who are widows, women who are abandoned by their husbands, women with husbands who are unwilling to play their role as fathers; poor, vulnerable women who are left alone to take care of children.
After realizing the needs of poor and vulnerable women in Butaramuka Colline, Audace thought about trying to help these needy women to become self-supporting, self-managing and self-sufficient. It is in this light that Audace decided to propose a project that will develop and combine income streams for women; this project will help vulnerable women through cultivating maize (corn) and soyabeans, breeding pigs and developing microfinancing in Butaramuka Colline, Mugina Commune, Cibitoke Province.
By empowering poor, vulnerable women with skills and resources, the project aims to create lasting economic change. The project’s purpose is to improve food security, create income-generating opportunities and increase the social and economic participation of women in rural communities, leading to overall community development.
The project proposal followed the successful HMODF agriculture development project model with four major development and income-generating functions: (1) development of the project association ($75 USD); (2) crop cultivation ($675 USD); (3) animal husbandry ($675 USD); and, (4) microfinancing ($75 USD). The proposed project will develop the capacities of the beneficiaries, will become self-supporting and self-sufficient and the project beneficiaries will become self-managing and self-governing and self-sustaining through the project association.
Developing the Association
This self-help project association aims to gather vulnerable woman to work in unity so that they can be the solution of their own problems by becoming socially and economically independent. The primary target group for this project will consist of 10 women, aged 18 to 50, from economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Butaramuka Colline. The women will be primarily low-income, vulnerable women with limited access to food; women who are unemployed or engaged in subsistence farming with minimal income. Some may be single mothers or widows who normally rely on informal or seasonal labor to support their families.
To develop an association, the idea is to establish a supportive network among the beneficiaries to promote collaboration and mutual growth. The Project Manager will collaborate with the local pastor from the Free Methodist Church, Butaramuka Parish, and discuss with him the selection of the most needy and vulnerable women to start an association. The Project Manager will meet with the prospective beneficiaries for capacity enhancement on modern practices for developing a Christian association and foster collaboration and good management.
The selected project beneficiaries will develop the association’s rules and register the association at the colline level. They will establish guidelines for decision-making and operations. All association members will sign an agreement and be involved in the meetings and workshops to discuss the vision, goals, and structure of the association. The association members will be supported to democratically elect their officers; a President, Vice-president and Treasurer-Secretary. The Project Manager and the Association Officers will open a bank account to ensure good management of the association’s financial resources. The bank account will have three required signatories for any withdrawal of the money.
Cultivating Crops
Once the project association is developed, the project grant money will be used to rent a suitable and productive field of about 1 hectare; one half for cultivating corn and the other half for soyabeans. The project beneficiaries will be involved in the search for land to rent, witness the payment for the land and obtain a receipt. As far as the farming materials are concerned, the association officers, together with the Project Manager, will purchase and supply hoes, manure, fertilizers, selected seeds of maize and soya and hoes to the beneficiaries.
Through capacity development training, the beneficiaries will learn higher techniques of cultivating corn and beans. All the beneficiaries will work together to prepare the field and take care of the crops. For all the harvests, 50% will be shared with the beneficiaries, 10% will be saved for seed and the other 40% will be sold and the money will be kept by the association to support ongoing crop cultivation. The association will use the money to rent suitable land, buy fertilizers and other needed materials to support ongoing crop cultivation and to become self-supporting and self-sustaining.
For additional income, the association members will be encouraged to work for other farmers and split the income between the association and the women who participated in the work. The association members will also be encouraged to work on other general income-generating activities such as buying and reselling food related items. In these cases, 50% of the income will be kept in the association account and the other 50% will be shared among the members involved in such activity.
Breeding Pigs
After crop cultivation has become self-supporting, the second installment of the grant money will be obtained and used to purchase two healthy pigs which will belong to the association and to build a pigpen, purchase food and medicines. The association officers will select a good place to build the pigpen so that there is security for pigs. The beneficiaries will participate in feeding them and ensure they are healthy. The beneficiaries will be responsible in caring for them. The modern techniques will be applied to have healthy pigs. We believe that those pigs will produce enough manure to fertilize their respective portions of land.
In addition, the Project Manager will help the beneficiaries to connect with graduates from Agriculture Program at Hope Africa University to ensure the sanitary treatment of the project animals. In case the beneficiaries are not receiving the graduates’ advice, they will connect with the local agronomist for support. Later, when the pigs reproduce and multiply, every woman will receive a piglet to own and raise for her household. As the association and the association members have more pigs, some will be sold to produce much-needed income for the association, the beneficiaries and their families.
Microfinancing
The project aims at supporting vulnerable women to become economically independent and increase productivity to overcome food insecurity in their households. Therefore, each member of the association will contribute 500 BIF per week to capital. The weekly amount collected will be kept in the box with three locks. The box will be kept by the Treasurer-Secretary. The keys will be kept by three different association members who are not among the officers. For any withdrawal, whether on the bank account or from the microfinance box, the officers will invite the association members for a meeting. The association members will state their needs and sign for a withdrawal.
The association members will be encouraged to start some income-generating activities to get some additional income for their families and to help them become socio-economically independent. When an association member needs to start a small business or for every understandable reason, the association will vote on the distribution of a refundable loan with an interest of 5%. Once agreed, the loan will be issued. For the security of the association money, the association members will determine how much money will be kept in the box. The extra money will be kept in the association bank account.
Project Title:
Supporting Vulnerable Women from Gishirwe Colline in Bugarama Commune, Rumonge Province through Cultivating Crops and Breeding Pigs
New Project Manager:
Euphraim NDIKUMWENAYO is an ordained Reverend Pastor from the Free Methodist Church in Burundi. He holds two degrees from Hope Africa University: a Bachelor’s Degree in Bible and Theology and a Master’s Degree in Theological Studies. Euphraim has demonstrated a strong academic journey in both theology and general education. His research includes a published book on tithing and a scholarly article on youth involvement in church activities. Passionate about faith and community, Euphraim continues to contribute to theological knowledge and church engagement in his local church in Gishirwe Colline in Bugarama Commune, Rumonge Province.
In response to the Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund call for proposals for 2025, Euphraim developed a project proposal entitled: Supporting Vulnerable Women from Gishirwe Colline in Bugarama Commune, Rumonge Province through Crop Cultivation and Breeding Pigs.
Rumonge is one of eighteen provinces in Burundi. It is in the southwest of Burundi and it borders on Lake Tanganyika on the west and Bururi Province on the east. Rumonge Province is inhabited by many people from different countries such as Rwanda, Congo and Tanzania. It has 5 communes and the population’s life depends on agriculture, fishing and animal husbandry. Although most of the population of that area has the capacity to work, they are still limited by their conditions of life which is a big burden for the church which is supposed to promote a holistic development among Christians.
The project proposal followed our successful HMODF agriculture development project model with four major development and income generating functions: (1) development of the project association ($70 USD); (2) crop cultivation ($676 USD); (3) animal husbandry ($713 USD); and, microfinancing ($41 USD). The proposed project will develop the capacities of the beneficiaries, they will become self-supporting and self-sufficient and the project beneficiaries will become self-managing, self-governing and self-sustaining through the project association.
Developing the Association
This project intends to gather ten (10) women 20 to 45 years old from Gishirwe Colline into the DUKORE NEZA Association (Work Well Association). All beneficiaries will be members of the Free Methodist Church and will be told about the requirement of adhesion and signing an Association Agreement. The selected beneficiaries will participate in the election of their officers for a good organization of the activities in the association in the presence of the Project Manager who will be coordinating the election. The association members will democratically elect their officers; a President, the Vice-President and the Secretary-Treasurer. Each registered member will participate in two sessions of training on social cohabitation, savings and loans and income-generating activities. After these sessions, the women will be ready to start the projects activities.
The Project Manager will be taking responsibility for the follow-up of the self-help association. He will continuously counsel the women about teamwork and the interest from working together. There will be at least one field visit each month. To strengthen the association members, together with the officers, the association Manager will organize different sessions for capacity building. These sessions will be beneficial to the women because they will provide important skills related to their self-sufficiency, self-governance, self-sustainment and self-support.
Cultivating Crops
The crop cultivation function of the project will begin as soon as the project receives the grant money. The Executive Committee will collaborate with the Project Manager in searching for a very suitable field for maize (corn) and beans; at least half hectare, to rent and sign a rental agreement. Through capacity development training provided by a graduate of Hope Africa University’s Agriculture Program, beneficiaries will learn higher techniques of cultivating beans. All the beneficiaries will work together by preparing the field and taking care of the crops. For all the harvests, 40% will be shared among the beneficiaries, 10% will be saved for seeds and the other 40% will be sold and the money will be kept in the association account to support the ongoing, self-supporting crop cultivation. As all the beneficiaries will be church members, they will hand over 10% of their income to God as an opening key for more blessings.
For additional income, the associates will be encouraged to work for other farmers and divide 40% of among themselves and 10% for tithe and 40% as a contribution to the association activities and 10% as seeds for next season.
Breeding Animals
As soon as the crop cultivation function becomes self-supporting, the project plans to buy three (3) female pigs for the association. The beneficiaries will be trained in better methods of caring for pigs. The 10 women of the association will be grouped into three groups according to their neighborhood and receive one pig for each group and commit to take care of it. The first generation will be distributed among the beneficiaries. When the association will have more pigs, some will be sold to produce much-needed income for the association, women and their families. From them, it will be easy to buy a cow and goats. By breeding animals and collecting the manure, the association will be able to create more productive soil.
Microfinancing
In the DUKORE NEZA Association, members will give a weekly savings of 500 BIF. This amount will be kept in COOPEC Bank at Magara Branch. The Secretary-Treasurer will initially be depositing the money in a box with multiple locks and later depositing some of the money in the account of the association and keep the deposit receipt. In case of the need for a withdrawal whether from the box or the bank account, the officers will invite the associates to a meeting and state their needs. The associates will hold a meeting and sign for a withdrawal. For the bank account, only the President, Treasurer and one of the association members will sign.
The associates will be encouraged to start some income-generating activities in order to become more self-sufficient. When an association member needs to start a small business or for every understandable reason, the association will vote for the distribution of a repayable loan with an interest of 5%. Once agreed, the loan will be issued. The extra money will be kept in the association bank account. For microfinance good start-up, the project manager will inject the equivalent in BIF of $41 USD for microfinance purposes.
If you want to contribute directly to agriculture development for poor Burundian women and their families, please visit Donations – Haley McCready Outreach and Development Fund.