Equipping women in Muhanga District for climate resilience, biodiversity

In Rwanda’s Muhanga District, an innovative project is transforming this narrative by empowering women through access to energy and sustainable agricultural practices.
The Socio-economic Empowerment of Women through Access to Energy (SEWAE) project, spearheaded by YWCA Rwanda, with funding from AFD (Agence Francais de Developpment) and CCFD-Terre Solidaire, in partnership with ACORD Rwanda is making significant strides in the Mushishiro Sector, specifically in the cells of Rwigerero and Nyagasozi.

This initiative seeks to empower 150 women organized into six savings groups by providing them with improved cooking stoves. The stoves are not just a technological upgrade ; they represent a lifeline for these women, drastically reducing the time spent on cooking and the reliance on firewood. By cutting down on firewood usage, the project not only alleviates the physical burden on women but also plays a crucial role in reducing deforestation—a pressing environmental concern.

In line with this year’s International Day of Rural Women theme, “Rural Women Sustaining Nature for Our Collective Future : Building Climate Resilience, Conserving Biodiversity, and Caring for land towards Gender Equality and Empowerment,” SEWAE underscores the indispensable role rural women play in building climate resilience through sustainable land and resource management. The introduction of improved cooking stoves is a testament to how innovation can intersect with traditional practices to foster environmental sustainability. By minimizing deforestation, these stoves contribute significantly to preserving local ecosystems while simultaneously enhancing women’s quality of life.

Beyond energy solutions, SEWAE embraces agricultural innovation through grafting techniques and tree nurseries. The project has provided 3,360 seedlings of avocadoes, mangoes, and oranges for tree nurseries currently undergoing grafting processes, along with regular passion fruit and tree tomato seeds. Grafting allows these plants to combine desirable traits such as disease resistance and high yield potential—ensuring that once mature, they will provide abundant harvests for years to come. Additionally, each group received seeds for tree tomatoes and passion fruits—crops known for their nutritional value and market demand.

This multifaceted approach not only enhances food security but also opens up economic opportunities for rural women by enabling them to engage in profitable agricultural ventures. By equipping these women with skills like grafting alongside resources such as seedlings and seeds—the project empowers them economically while fostering environmental stewardship.

Moreover, SEWAE incorporates training on the Gender Action Learning System (GALS) approach—a participatory methodology designed to promote gender equality within communities by encouraging collective decision-making processes around resource management strategies including those related directly or indirectly towards sustaining nature.
As we celebrate International Day of Rural Women, underlining their essential roles in sustaining nature we, highlight the change that this project has brought to the lives of rural women.

A case in point is Marrie Goretti Mukeshimana from Nyagasozi Cell in the Rwigerero Sector, in Muhanga District who shared how the project transformed her daily activities.
“I was going about my daily life as a house wife and as luck would have it, YWCA came and gave us these cooking stoves which have been very beneficial to us.
Before I received this cooking stove, I was cooking food the traditional way using stones and firewood. Since getting the new cooking stove, it has reduced the amount of time I spend cooking because of the firewood especially if it was not dry, it would take about an hour and a half to cook a meal.
With the new cooking stove, it takes about 30 minutes for food to be ready. Another thing I have benefited is the wonder box that keeps the food warm. I have young children so it helps keep their porridge warm in the morning. It’s like a thermos flask, where I keep porridge for my family to take their breakfast when they return from digging.

Mukeshimana and her life changing cooking stove and wondr box

With the cooking stove, it also enables me to multitask, I can leave food cooking on the stove and go to harvest vegetables in the garden or fetch water and find it ready. They say time is expensive and this is what this cooking stove and wonder box have done for my household”.
With Mukeshaimana as a testament, it becomes evident that initiatives like SEWAE are pivotal not only because they address immediate needs but also because they lay down pathways towards long-term sustainability both environmentally and socially within communities where change is most needed.