USAID initiates new Hinga Wunguke project to improve farmer’s access to markets

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), an international agricultural development organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., has launched the five-year Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity designed to increase the incomes of Rwandan farmers and agribusinesses, boosting agricultural productivity and bolstering domestic consumption and availability of high-value, nutritious agricultural products.

CNFA began implementation of the USAID-funded Hinga Wunguke Activity in January 2023, joined by MarketShare Associates, a Denver-based socially driven consulting firm, to engage the public and private sectors in facilitating inclusive, locally driven, and sustainable change to Rwanda’s agricultural sector.

Aptly named Hinga Wunguke, which translates to “grow profitable” in Kinyarwanda, CNFA will leverage experience and expertise gained from its earlier implementation of the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze activity from 2017 to 2022, during which the program worked with about 734,583 farmers to increase crop production by adopting agricultural best practices and strengthening market linkages.

“Although the agricultural sector in Rwanda faces significant climate-related challenges, we are confident that the introduction of new tools and technologies will give its farmers the ability to maximize growth, improve food security and increase the consumption of nutritious foods,” said CNFA President and CEO Sylvain Roy. “We look forward to working with local and global partners to facilitate sustainable change while boosting agricultural productivity.”

Through Hinga Wunguke, CNFA and its partners will promote policies that drive private-sector investment and growth. They will also work with local market system actors across 13 districts in Rwanda to scale approaches and identify entrepreneurs that can drive positive change, while bringing in new expertise as needed to achieve the program’s objectives.

The Activity will work to strengthen farmers’ resilience in the face of climate change, increase their profitability and enhance their access to finance, markets and improved inputs, technologies and agricultural practices.

Hinga Wunguke is now in its inception phase and the team is co-creating with potential partners. “We are very excited to work with Rwandan farmers and other market actors again in order to ensure increased access to profitable markets and to generate increased incomes for their products and services.” observed Daniel Gies, Chief of Party for Hinga Wunguke.

CNFA will collaborate with other USAID Rwanda implementing partners to strengthen the enabling environment for market-driven agriculture and foster a policy climate that bolsters the GOR’s role as an enabler and increases the private sector’s role as a main driver of agricultural growth.

Activity targets include helping 500,000 farmers improve their resilience in the face of climate change, facilitating $20 million in agricultural financing and increasing dietary diversity by 30% for women of reproductive age. Hinga Wunguke will:

• Increase agricultural productivity with improved agricultural practices by facilitating access to knowledge, information and improved inputs and technologies. This aims to increase productivity, while promoting sustainable agriculture and strengthening resilience to shocks, such as the environmental and economic impacts of climate change.
• Facilitate access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses by enhancing the financial literacy skills of farmers and agribusinesses so they can obtain and manage funding to boost production. Hinga Wunguke will also prioritize engagement with the private sector to increase value chain financing and farm and agribusiness investment opportunities.
• Improve market availability and demand for nutritious foods by expanding farmers’ access to markets while increasing the availability and consumption of safe and nutritious food for Rwandan consumers. The Activity will accomplish this by using a market systems approach to support the private sector in developing and promoting nutritious products. It then will help generate demand by educating consumers on the benefits of nutritious products.
• Strengthen the enabling environment for market-driven agriculture through close collaboration with other USAID/Rwanda implementing partners to foster an environment where the development and implementation of policies strengthen the GOR’s role as an enabler and where the private sector acts as a main driver of agricultural growth. This includes facilitating public-private dialogues that enhance the GOR’s ability to work with the private sector to invest in and lead systemic changes that modernize the agriculture sector and drive inclusive growth.

CNFA (Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture) is an international agricultural development organization that specializes in the design and implementation of sustainable, enterprise-based agricultural initiatives. We work with businesses, foundations, governments, and communities to build customized local and global partnerships that meet the world’s growing demand for food. Since our inception in 1985, we have designed and implemented enterprise-based, agricultural development initiatives to facilitate market access, enhance agribusiness competitiveness, increase productivity, and improve access to inputs and financing in 47 countries around the world.