Women shaping the agricultural value chain in Kalehe

By Vedella Rutaha, Senior Officer SBCC&Media and Jean-Baptiste Hamuli, SBCC officer (FSP Project)

In regions with conservative customs, sometimes the man's strength is perceived through his ability to provide for the family alone, thus relegating the woman to a traditional secondary role.

On the west coast of Lake Kivu, in the territory of Kalehe, the community is gradually recovering from the instabilities caused by successive tension and conflict. Deprived of other economic opportunities, agriculture is the main activity generally accessible to the whole community and the contribution of women is crucial. Far from the history of representing a danger to the balance of the family, their contribution is now gradually getting appreciated. At the heart of the problem of improving the local agricultural model, more and more women are taking initiatives and participating in their own way  to increase food security, improve access to nutritious food and strengthen the agricultural value chain.                                                         

Unrewarded ambition

Julienne, a 35-year-old resident of the village of Kasheke in the territory of Kalehe in South Kivu, is the mother of six children. Her husband is a teacher, she devotes herself totally to farming activities, which she says was becoming a challenge for local farmers as the productivity of the land declined. 

Coupled with the population growth challenge, malnutrition was taking a foothold in the community. "It was very difficult to find the necessary amount of food to support the family, the consequences on the children included malnutrition which rendered them highly vulnerable to multiple kinds of disease.                 

To try to cope with the famine and increase crop a production, families decided to cultivate large areas, often on hills further exposing them to the vagaries of the climate. "This exploitation of undeveloped hillsides exposed the land to landslides associated with the destruction of crops. This vulnerability to climatic hazards was compounded by our lack of knowledge to choose the right seeds for the land.”

To find solutions, Julienne joined the local organisation COOPAMI before it became an agricultural cooperative in 2014. In 2016, she was leected president. ,She was a reluctant farmer employing old farming techniques and resigned to the ever dwindling harvests.  'Farming alone cannot guarantee economic well-being,' she recalls feeling.  

In 2017 she decided to invest fully in the activities of the cooperative but still could not optimise profitability.                                                             

"Before we knew the importance of choosing the right seeds, we were working at a loss: for example, we planted 15kgs of beans (uncertified seeds bought on the local market), 4kgs of maize and the local variety of cassava planted in bulk in a field of 100m by 50m. We harvested 75kg of beans, 120kg of maize and 157kg of cassava pods.     

For an association of several people and after a long time of waiting and tending the crops, the cash we earned was pitiful.

The crucial role of access to information 

Since 2017 after deploying the lessons and activities initiated with the support of the Food Security Project (FSP) jointly implemented by World Vision and Mercy Corps with support from the US government the story begun to change. The Agriculture and Economic Recovery component of the project has developed several approaches for the benefit of producers' associations, including that of Julienne, in order to optimise agricultural production and make the formerly infertile areas profitable. She says: "The link with seed agro-multipliers and agro-dealers in the internal-external zones has been very beneficial to us, for example in season A (first season) 2022, our cooperative planted 18 kg of HM3 beans and 4 kg of maize of an improved variety, and we harvested 203 kg of beans worth US$355 and 359 kg of maize earning us US$161.7, in addition to our field of cassava of the V8 variety which is still under cultivation and which is promising a record production.

 Encouraging results

Far from the unnecessary fatigue and losses of the past, the fruits of our strength are evident: "the harvest has allowed our cooperative to pay the membership fees in the agricultural products collection centre (CCA) where we now have our own space to stock our products before selling and we can freely access the warrantee credit”.

Having adopted these same techniques in our family fields, she recounts the benefits: "This year, the harvests are different; we harvested 280kg of beans sold at US$476 and 579kg of cassava tubers sold at US$579 which allowed us to start building our brick house in which we are currently living”.

In the eyes of Julienne and her companions, one can read the ambition to reach higher in order to make their fields more profitable and to encourage their neighbours to practice the same techniques in their respective fields in order to increase production, reduce malnutrition and above all increase household income.

"We are optimistic that the other 45 members of our PO COOPAMI who have adopted the choice of quality HM3 bean seeds, maize and V8 cassava cuttings have increased their production and income within their households as well, which also allows them to set up IGAs and other micro-projects. COOPAMI is just one of 33 community-based farmer groups that World Vision is partnering with in 9 health areas in the Kalehe zone. We commend the efforts of the ENYANYA project (the local name for the FSP project) in reducing malnutrition and building sustainable agriculture.

The South Kivu Food Security Project (FSP), implemented by world vision in the Kalehe health zone, known locally as Enyanya, supports USAID's strategic objectives for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by working with households, community leaders and the DRC government to improve the food and nutrition security and economic well-being of vulnerable households in South Kivu