As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past
When Alphonsine Mukankusi laughs – and she laughs a lot – then you see the slight gap between her front teeth. But it is not just Alphonsine’s smile that immediately wins people over – it is also her quiet, deep voice, as well as her gaze: fixed, clear and warm. It is with this gaze that she studies the visitors to her sparse, sun-bathed office, as well as the entries in the thick folders next to her on the table. Earnings and outgoings, balance sheets, member details – Alphonsine knows all of the names and numbers. And so she should, because the 54-year-old is President of the agricultural cooperative IABM.
Fortinue Uwizeyimana with members of the cooperative.
Over the last five years, Alphonsine has risen to her task – and so has the maize cooperative that she leads: It now has around 800 members, 100 of whom are women. Alphonsine’s cooperative is supported by UGAMA, a local partner organisation of Bread for the World in Rwanda.
UGAMA has taken on the job of supporting the development of cooperatives so that the lives of rural families can be improved in the most effective way possible. Through its work, the organisation reaches around 220,000 people.
“It’s a good life today. Very different from the past."
Together, the members of Alphonsine’s cooperative farm the land that they lease from the government, using it to grow maize and soy. They sell a portion of the crops and distribute the rest among themselves. With her share, Alphonsine recently bought rice, sugar, oil, fruit and a small amount of meat at the market, and paid her first power bill – her house now has electricity. “It’s a good life today”, says Alphonsine. “Very different from the past."
The women support each other and work together.
For Alphonsine, the past means the years before 2007, before she joined the cooperative. “It was a bad time for me and my children”. When this tall, slim woman talks about those times, her voice loses its vibrancy and the smile disappears from her face – and so does that gap between her teeth. Alphonsine became a mother to five boys and three girls. She was married, but unhappy. The family had a goat but it belonged to her husband, as did the piece of land behind their hut – and he even considered his wife to be his property. “I had no rights whatsoever”, says Alphonsine. Neither she nor her children ever really had enough to eat. “We did grow potatoes, cassava and beans, but it was nothing like enough."
Work is like therapy
Her husband has since disappeared from her life. And so has the hunger. Since she became a member of the cooperative, Alphonsine and her children eat healthily, and there are vegetables on their plates every day. And there is enough money to buy clothes and pay school fees for the three youngest, who are now almost grown-ups themselves. But what is just as important to Alphonsine as the income and the work that she does through the cooperative is the fact that the group has helped her to regain her independence and her smile. Working there is a form of therapy for her. And the cooperative itself is a place of reconciliation in a country where, 20 years ago, a massacre led even to neighbours and relatives slaying each other with machetes, and where almost a million people were killed in three and a half months, with many more still traumatised today. After the genocide, the collective work in the cooperative gave Alphonsine hope again, and guided her back to her life. “The workers from CSC and my brothers and sisters in the groups showed me the way out of suffering after the civil war”, she says, pausing for a moment. Alphonsine managed to talk to other women about what they had experienced. And to share their grief for what they had lost. They learned to have faith in themselves again in this deeply divided country and to build a new society.
“I have raised eight children. A few hundred new members don’t scare me.”
“Today”, says Alphonsine, “I am a confident person." She gained this self-confidence in the cooperative, first in the field and then in her job as President. “The people from CSC said: You can do it." And they still say it now. Alphonsine is set to put herself forward as a candidate again. She is likely to win the vote. And that means her life will still be hectic. Appointments, meetings, conferences, searching for new members – and early every morning, she heads out into the field in front of the office. But none of this frightens Alphonsine. Quite the opposite: She would miss this job. Like her own children. Five of the eight now have a family of their own, and the house is slowly emptying. And that is another reason why Alphonsine is staying with the cooperative. It has become like her family. “I have raised eight children. A few hundred new members don’t scare me”, says Alphonsine, throwing her purple shawl over her shoulder as she gives a glimpse of that charming gap between her teeth.
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The soybean is a natural crop that can be used to make a lot of food. So, Tata Bi started a small processing business first on her own, then with a few other women, which provides the women with an additional source of income year-round besides selling the soybeans.
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An Artikel by the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA)
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A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)
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New insights on trade and value addition in the rice sector in West Africa
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gebana, a Swiss fair trade company, follows the principle of "sharing" with its corporate philosophy: farming families in the Global South participate directly in the sales of their online shop. Caroline Schaar, Marketing at gebana, explains the company's approach.
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A Contribution by Initiative für nachhaltige Agrarlieferketten (INA)
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A contribution by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Africa’s population is young and ready to take its destiny into its own hands. Agriculture offers amazing opportunities in this regard. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to support the next generation in this way.
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Interview with Gnininkaboka Dabiré and Innocent Somé
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A contritbution by Essa Chanie Mussa (University of Gondar)
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A report by Alexander Müller and Jes Weigelt (TMG)
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Interview with Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub.
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Interview with Martina Fleckenstein (WWF), Michael Kühn (WHH) and Christel Weller-Molongua (GIZ)
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A contribution by Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge
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A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development
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A contribution by Jes Weigelt and Alexander Müller
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How investing in healthy soils provides incentives for more sustainable agriculture even as it demonstrates the need for far reaching changes in the agrisector.
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A contribution by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
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Stefan Liebing is chairman of the Africa Association of German Business. The manager calls for a better structure of African farms. Jan Rübel asked him about small farmers, the opportunities for German start-ups and a new fund.
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Time to dig deeper: We can only benefit from technical progress if we have a solid legal framework for everybody. But so far, none is in sight - in many countries. Instead, international corporations grow ever more powerful.
What do electrical engineering, telecommunications and agriculture have in common? They arouse the passion of Strive Masiyiwa: Thirty years ago, he started an electrical installation company with $75, later riding the telecommunications wave as a pioneer. Today he is committed to transforming African agriculture.
Enabling smallholders to trade across regions and borders promotes food security and economic growth. Although everyone is calling for exactly that, implementation is still difficult
A report by Bettina Rudloff and Annette Weber (SWP)
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Based on a scientific study by TMG Think Tank, the authors highlight various challenges in the fight against the hunger crisis. The findings show that climate change, conflict and covid-19 are increasing food and energy prices.
The Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor 2022 (AATM) was published by IFPRI and AKADEMIYA2063. The report analyses the short- and long-term trends and drivers of African agricultural trade flows, including regional policies and the role of global markets.
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A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem
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With the annual topic "Earth’s well, all’s well!", Fairtrade Germany is focusing on the concept of agroecology at all levels - and is thus taking the next step towards achieving greater global sustainability. At the Green Week trade fair, Fairtrade Germany will show how this can be achieved taking the cocoa supply chain as an example.
Jehiel Oliver was a successful consultant. One day, he quit his job in investment banking to become a social entrepreneur. His mission: tractors for Africa. Rental tractors. What gave him that idea? Find out in his interview with Jan Rübel.
Supporting groups of smallholding women substantially contributes to strengthen rural operations economically. The organisation and associated group activities can help to reduce extreme poverty and improve the food situation.
Small farmers are often left behind in African agriculture. Access to markets and improved competitiveness can only be achieved if the small farms join forces. But those affected in partner countries are often at a loss as to how to implement cooperative models. Here, the BMZ provides support through the SEWOH ONE World – NO Hunger initiative and the Social Structure Promotion (Sozialstrukturförderung).
A project by Deutscher Genossenschafts- und Raiffeisenverband e. V.
An Interview with Shamika Mone (INOFO) and Elizabeth Nsimadala (EAFF)
At the UN Food Systems Summit, farmers organizations have been represented on the international stage for the first time ever. Two representatives talk about bridging personal aspirations with the representation of regional needs and international negotiations.
Russia's war against Ukraine and its impact on food, energy and fertiliser prices is worrying farmers all over the world. Young farmers, farmer organisations and politicians from Kenya, Chad and Ukraine tell their stories and what keeps them in agriculture.
Karen Mapusua, President of IFOAM Organics International Network, on the danger of the current fuel crises and inflation to loose track in sustainablity, why organic farmers should be heard and how the word “crisis” has a very different meaning where she lives in Fiji.
A contribution by William Onura and Larissa Stiem-Bhatia
In agriculture it is important to include political stakeholders in the discourse. To build the bridge between practical application and political action, the think tank TMG launched the Governor's Day with Farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya. Now it took place for the second time. But what are the goals and benefits of the Governor's Day?
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. "Women and young people need access to land. And they need financial support to cultivate this land." - says Kolyang Palebele, President of the Pan African Farmers Organisation (PAFO).
How can rural economies become viable and modern? William Madudike, youth representative of the Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) and a potato farmer himself, examines this question. He argues that the whole rural economy and actors from producers to consumers need to be considered. An interview on the initiative role of youth.
Partnerships are needed to face the multiple shocks for food systems. This is what Dr. Jacqueline Mkindi, president of the Agriculture Council Tanzania (ACT) and CEO of the Tanzanian Horticulture Association (TAHA) states.
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