6/13/14
On this last day in Rwanda, we visited two projects, the Murama Pig Cooperative, formerly the Murama Pig and Chicken Cooperative, and the Kamatana Fish Farmer Cooperative.
The pig coop has been one of our very successful projects in the past and I was very sad to see that, because of recent drought here in Rwanda, both the pigs and the coop members are suffering from lack of food. We met with the four group leaders who still feel that with patience, the project will still bring more income, but at the moment, while they wait for the pigs to continue to produce, food is a challenge.
There are 40 farmers in the group. Two years ago, the group started with 12 female pigs and one male. Today they have about 120 pigs (including piglets too young to breed or sell) and the one male for breeding. All young males will be sold. Last year at this time, there were 84 pigs, so the farm is definitely growing. In 3-4 months, the pigs will be old enough to start selling them and then there will be money for proper feed.
Unfortunately, the chicken project failed, because of lack of money for chicken feed and certain diseases going around the area. Now the group is trying to raise rabbits instead, but again, the lack of rain has decreased the availability of the grass that the rabbits usually eat. The future of the rabbit program is uncertain.
The fish farmers were a little disappointing today, as they have not accomplished much since my last visit. They are aware they have not done enough work and expressed their embarrassment. They were supposed to cultivate a garden around the lake that would be rented out for events, such as weddings, as the lake is not far from the city of Kigali. They did some planting of trees, grass and a plot of eggplant for income generation to support the upkeep of the garden. However, the garden was not well maintained and the grass is overgrown and yet to be planted in other areas. They met some other challenges, such as larger fish in the lake have been eating the tilapia that they planted into the man made lake for farming. I am confident that my next visit will find better progress, after hearing what they had to say.
Tonight, we are going to hear some local music with my colleague and his wife. Should be fun! Tomorrow, we are back to Uganda, but this time by plane to Kampala.
