A community rice storage for Munyika Hill

This project, which is facilitated by the funding from the City of Vienna, provides a solution for efficient storage and conservation of rice in the rural area Munyika Hill, Rugombo province.

The commune of Rugombo, where the project was being implemented, is largely located on the Imbo plain, a low-lying region. The majority of the population of this commune grows rice and has developed marshes and irrigation canals that increase rice production and thus provide a real driving force for agricultural development.

Despite all these advantages for increasing agricultural rice production, there is still a widespread storage problem. All the farmers in the same locality produce the same product at the same time, but as they have no storage system, they are all forced to sell their rice at the same time, at the same place and to the same traders. Furthermore, small producers have to contend with the shortage of storage granaries and have to pay considerable storage costs to the owners of these stocks.

In order to relieve this storage burden on rice farmers, HOPE’87-Burundi started this project. A community granary was built as an effective storage and preservation solution, which on the one hand enables small-scale producers to store part of their production and sell it at the most favourable time, and on the other hand makes them more resilient to food and nutritional shocks during the lean periods. The project further offered training in agricultural techniques and practices such as harvesting and post-harvest procedures to the farmers, training for community savings and credit associations (ACEC) as well as training in sustainable income-generating activities (IGAs) to contribute to the economic self-determination and empowerment of the beneficiaries.

HOPE’87 expresses its gratitude to the City of Vienna for financing this project!