1. KODUIMU success story

KODUIMU, a cooperative trading banana product with 28 members, started with an operational capital of 15.000Frw. On the reporting day, KODUIMU had an operational capital amounting to 8.500.000 Frw for their daily businesses.
This cooperative benefited from the project where a motorcycle was provided to facilitate the transportation of their goods from Rubavu/Rwanda to Goma/DRC as well as secured land to build cooperative premises for their business operations. This is a good example of success generated as a result of efficiency and social mobilization to envision a better future for a group of people.

2. KOTEMURWE Success story

The project Making Trade Work for Women, contributed to building the capacity of WCBT cooperative members on women’s rights, advocacy, and lobby techniques. As a result of acquired knowledge and skills, members of WCBTs now advocate for their rights and issues affecting them.
KOTEMURWE cooperative from Bugesera district serves as a live advocacy case study. The cooperative built her factory in the Rweru sector, producing maize flour. However, it persistently faced the challenge of a lack of power connection in its premises to run its small-scale plant.
The installation power was estimated to cost an amount equivalent to 35,000 USD and the cooperative was not able to raise that amount. In addition, the project didn’t have the budget line for covering those expenses despite the support provided to the cooperative to buy machines and equipment including other requirements to meet standards.
Using the knowledge and skills gained especially in advocacy and lobbying, the cooperative KOTEMURWE, decided to engage in dialogue with concerned government institutions to seek support for power installation in their factory.
Thus, Mrs. Jeannette MUKAFURAHA, the chairperson of the cooperative, started the journey of advocating for the issue of power connection to her factory from the local entities, and district level until she engaged the Director General of Rwanda Energy Group (REG) for the support to install power in their factory of maize flour with free charge due the limitations financial capacity of the cooperative.
The story ends with a successful with the Director General of Rwanda Energy Group approving the request from the KOTEMURWE cooperative and offering a three-phase power connection and installation of electricity at the facility at no cost from the cooperative including manpower, which cost an amount equivalent to 35,000 USD. Currently, the factory is operating and producing maize flour. The good news is that the local communities around the factory have also benefited from the installed power connection.

3. KODIBU Success story

The amazing journey of eleven members of KODIBU, from selling ordinary cassava flour and beans, now establishing a super maize flour plant with a good quality product, in addition to that, the Cooperative continues selling beans, and other grains. The cooperative started with initial capital of 500,000 Frw which raised to 2,500,000 Frw which helped in the daily operations of their plant.
The Cooperative members were capacitated by PFTH through TMA support in terms of increasing their knowledge and skills in cooperative management, bookkeeping, financial management, and literacy. With the value of additional support from the project, the cooperative was supported with milling machines and other accessories to start running a processing plant of maize flour.
This created new markets and potential clients in their local communities and neighbors.
The outcome of this business improved the life conditions of cooperative members in terms of saving for medical health insurance, school fees, and other scholastic materials for their children and contributing to their home basic needs. Additionally, members of the cooperative managed to start their businesses such as rearing goats, pigs, and chickens as testified by Fortune MUKABURANGA, the cooperative member.

4. DUKORE TWIGIRE Success Story

A success story is drawn from rural women in Burera district, who created a cooperative Dukore Twigire with 22 members aimed to improve their life conditions by contributing 20,000Frw for each as an initial share to the cooperative which helped to run their businesses, currently, their operational capital increased to 1,500,000 Frw which contribute for their daily businesses’ activities. The cooperative also owns 10 pigs.
The cooperative impacted the lives of its members by giving 22 goats and 22 pigs to individual members to cater to their social well-being.
In addition, the cooperative contributed a lot to the fight against gender-based violence and unwanted pregnancies for girls’ teenage among themselves and local communities, as stated by AISHA.

5. ICYEREKEZO CYIZA MATIMBA Success Story

ICYEREKEZO CYIZA MATIMBA Cooperative started with 16 members (14 women and 2 men) with an individual membership contribution of 50,000 that was raised to 100,000 Frw and currently sky rocked to 350,000 Frw, a 700% increase.
With the support of Pro-Femmes/TH through Trade Mark Africa, the cooperative started a processing plant of juice and wine. It was facilitated to meet the required quality standards for their product.
The cooperative created jobs for their sixteen members and another 26 for local communities both permanent and causal works. The employed workers especially technical staff oversee the daily operations of the plant and have advanced knowledge and expertise in food science and technology.
Furthermore, the cooperative built its factory for processing juice and wine with a value estimated at 500.000.000 Frw including factory assets, equipment, and machineries. As testified by MUCURIRE Jeanette, the chairperson of the cooperative.

6. KAKI Success Story

A story from the KAKI cooperative in the RUSIZI district involved in tailoring and trading African Kitenge that started with a membership share amounting to 30,000Frw with time, the shares have increased to 100,000 Frw per member. Currently, the cooperative has an operational capital of 3,000,000 (cash 2,000,000 and value of merchandise equivalent to 1,000,000Frw). The project supported the cooperative with different sewing/tailoring machines, which facilitated their businesses. Members of the cooperative are now able to contribute to the RSSB Pension scheme “Ejo Heza savings” and other social services.

7. DUKORE DUKUNDANA

In a story from Dukore Dukundana in Rusizi district, their members considered cooperative activities as their source of inspiration for their families. The cooperative is mainly involved in trading cassava flour in the Rusizi district and supply to Bukavu in DRC. In the context of improving the quality of Cassava flour, PFTH through TMA supported the cooperative with the required machinery to produce the best quality of Cassava flour and contributed to the reduction of transport costs.
Currently, the cooperative changed their lives by creating jobs for individual members by providing startup capital that helps each one to start his or her own business.

Now the cooperative owns 5,554,650 Frw in a bank account for daily business operations and 2,500,000 Frw in a savings account which generates interest.
The current commodities in their stores are estimated to be 9,000,000 Frw and 900,000 Frw given to their clients to be paid within in short period.
In general, the cooperation of 27 members which started with a contribution of 1000frw every month per member, now the cooperative owns a working capital equivalent to 17,954,650 Rwf, as testified by MUKABISENGINANA Solina, the chairperson of the cooperative.

8. UNGUKA NUNGUKE

A story from UNGUKA NUNGUKE Cooperative in Rubavu district states that they began operations with a working capital of 1,700,000 RWF and raised to 4,800,000 Frw as current working capital. Their business on fish has contributed to changing the lives of cooperative members by starting with a membership contribution from 40.000Frw to 200.000Frw. Currently, each benefited annually from an amount of 300,000 FRW for payment of health medical insurance, education tuition, and RSSB Pension savings scheme, as testified by Alivera NYIRANDEKEYAHO, the chairperson of the cooperative.

9. GIRUBUZIMA

A story from the cooperative GIRUBUZIMA serves as a learning example showing that one can start from the lowest and achieve the highest level possible. GIRUBUZIMA started with five women, with each member collecting one liter of milk per day, equal to five liters, and selling to the local community making 1000 Frw per day. They kept increasing their sales progressively. On the day of reporting GIRUBUZIMA was selling 300 liters of milk per day. Through a series of capacity building opportunities from the project, GIRUBUZIMA innovatively initiated a chain of value addition and started producing butter for cooking, and jelly for body lotion, and can sell 1000 kgs per month. Currently, GIRUBUZIMA is generating an income equivalent to 600,000 Frw. In addition, members of the cooperative sell 50 liters of fresh milk per day, which generates an income equivalent to 720,000 Frw per month. As of today, cooperative membership increased from five to twenty women legally registered in the cooperative.
GIRUBUZIMA owns the land where they are planning to asset up a factory for milk products to include their offices, stores, and selling points for their products. This was made possible through the support from Global Affairs Canada through Trade Mark Africa, in partnership with Pro-Femmes as testified by UHAWENIMANA Dorothy, member of the GIRUBUZIMA cooperative.