Livelihoods and Resilience

What we want to do:

We believe that all children are gifts from God and should be cared for, protected and empowered to participate in the direction of their lives. Although many families desire to provide these things for their children, they lack the ability to do so. We are working towards this by:

  • Increasing families’ incomes and, as a result, their abilities to provide for their children’s needs
  • Empowering communities to cope with and recover from disasters
  • Ensuring adolescents and youth have the skills they need to generate income for their future needs
What is the problem?

Although Rwanda was recently recognized as one of the 10 most child-friendly countries in Africa and most families desire to give children what they need/deserve, their abilities to do so do not often do not. Despite positive strides, many families are dependent on subsistence farming techniques and lack the necessary agricultural implements to produce a living income from their farms. As a result, 39.1% of families live in poverty and 38% of children experience malnutrition that leads to stunting.

How is World Vision addressing the issues?

We are equipping families and communities to increase and diversify their incomes through training on improved agriculture techniques, the provision of improved seeds and tools, the establishment and training of savings groups (which help families save for difficult times and have the capital to start additional income generating activities) and the creation of non-farm-related off-farm employment opportunities.

Is what World Vision doing working?

Yes! Families reported an increase from US$ 15.01 to US$ 42.20 monthly from non-farm-related off-farm activities; increasing their ability to provide for their children’s needs. In 2016, nearly twice as many adolescents considered themselves to be thriving on the ladder of life (compared to the baseline from 2014);, evidence of improved training and their more positive outlook on life. Additionally, 32% more adolescents (73.5%) report having sufficient access to food compared to the baseline (55.5%) in 2014.

What’s the impact?*
  • The number of World Vision-supported savings groups in Rwanda grew from 2,434 (2016) to 6,831 (2017) with 107,159 members.
  • 20,244 (2016 and 2017) farmers were trained in sustainable agricultural techniques.
  • 14,611 (2016 and 2017) farmers were equipped to use improved agriculture methods and tools, such as improved seeds and irrigation systems.
  • 2,230 non-farm related off-farm jobs were created

*Numbers from 2016 and 2017