Sunflower (Ibihwagari) Project

Country: Rwanda
Project details
Services:
Access to finance
Capacity building
Market assessment
Value chain development
Crops:
Oil crops

Sunflower (Ibihwagari) Project, Rwanda, 2022-2025

Donor:

Achmea Foundation

Goal 

The project’s goal is to improve the resilience and livelihood of smallholder sunflower farmers in Rwanda by increasing crop productivity and farmers’ access to markets and finances.

What we do

In cooperating with micro-finance Institutions (MFIs), the Rwandan Agriculture Board (RAB), sunflower oil processing plants, and selected cooperatives, EUCORD aims to:

  1. Connect sunflower processors to local farmers
  2. Help identify and implement good agricultural practices to ensure better return on investment for farmers
  3. Improve value chain by organizing sunflower farmers into cooperatives, strengthening their production capacity and their ability to connect with larger markets

Accomplishments

  • 2,877 farmers including 52% women from 16 cooperatives in the project intervention area were trained in sunflower production, GAP and post-harvest handling techniques.
  • 16 cooperative management committees were trained on financial management and marketing with 44% being women.
  • 81 hectares of land cropped in 2023/2024 A season. Cumulative of 208 hectares of land cropped under sunflower since the project started.
  • 340.5 tons of sunflower produced by farmers on 208 hectares and 10,215 liters of virgin oil was processed by two oil plants from sunflower produced by farmers.
  • The project was extended to Burera and Gicumbi district (Northern Province) under the EC funded PROFARM Project.
  • Two demo plots of sunflower were established by RAB for productivity evaluation and technology transfer purpose during the 2023/24 A season.