Ivan Damascene Iradukunda
Grace UWAMBAYE from Rukara Sector, Kayonza District is one of the women who took the lead in farming as a profession. She grows bananas, maize, and potatoes.
In an interview with therealcontentrwanda.com, she started professional farming after going on a study tour in Mushikiri Sector, Kirehe District. There she saw a woman who had improved her life through farming, and that inspired her to do the same.
She says: “I went on a study tour to Kirehe with support from the district. When I got there I saw a woman who had succeeded through banana farming. I took a pen and wrote down everything I saw because she even explained to me how she fertilizes the banana plants until they mature. When I got home I showed my husband what I had learned. We started on 50 Ares, but now we’ve reached 1 Hectare.”
Grace UWAMBAYE continues that this farming helps her pay her children’s school fees and other needs because she “takes her hands out of her pockets and farms professionally.”
She adds: “From my banana plantation I can harvest a bunch weighing up to 80kg. To be honest, where I came from was very hard, but where I am now is encouraging because I can pay my children’s school fees with no other project except farming, I have nothing to blame God for.”
She continues: “We started by carrying bananas on bicycles, loading only 6 or 7 bunches. But now you can see that even one bunch is too heavy for a bicycle.”
Grace says that during banana harvest season she gets between 8 and 12 tons, and during off-season she harvests between 5 and 8 tons.
This is one example of a woman who has succeeded. She also advises other women to do professional farming because it brings money.
She says: “My advice to fellow women is to know that there’s no such thing as ‘men’s work’ or ‘women’s work.’ In the past we believed no woman could do banana farming, but today I do it and my husband is right here. You need to learn to do all kinds of work because one of you might not always be around. So I tell women: be bold and work.”
Fred Hategekimana, Acting Mayor of Kayonza District, says there are opportunities for growth in agriculture. He asks people, especially youth and women, to get into it.
He says: “We can say the doors are open for everyone. What we ask, especially from youth and women, is to understand that nothing is too hard now because there are partners and even the Government is there. They should go to those already in it, learn from them, then be bold and stay committed.”
It’s rare to find educated youth doing farming because it’s often looked down on. But those who have tried it say it can lead to growth if done professionally just like Grace UWAMBAYE dared to do it, and now her life has changed.
RUSAGARA MUVUNANKIKO Valens
