One of the lesser reported stories of survivors in conflict zones is the surge in female-headed households, where women are often caring for many dependents, without land, and with little hope for economic recovery. When Olive, a survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, was asked how she could be helped, her answer was simple: “Give us land to grow”.

In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, women in the country were disproportionately affected. The horrific campaign of genocidal sexual violence resulted in a high prevalence of HIV and thousands of children were born of rape. Some women and female orphans of the genocide were forced into sex work as the only way to make a living.

This project aims to work with women from Rwanda’s most vulnerable and economically marginalised groups who have a limited capacity to find employment. Through land ownership and cooperative organic farming, this project is designed to lift them, their families and their communities out of poverty and to build food security.

Goals

Enable the most vulnerable women in Rwanda to become empowered landowners running a successful agribusiness.

Activities

Support for groups of 30 women* to establish profitable, climate-smart agricultural cooperatives, with a donation of land to be owned permanently and indefinitely (2 hectares of farmland), and with a start-up loan for tools and agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilisers and farm equipment).

The groups benefit from 64 days of training on business, climate-smart farming, nutrition and women’s empowerment, as well as a psychosocial support system. The total duration of support is 5 years.

*The Rwandan population is stratified through the Ubudehe system which rates household income from A-E. The targeted groups are from the two most vulnerable and economically excluded categories: E (no assets and no source of income) and D (work as casual wage labour earning less than $40 per month, with limited or no access to land).

Impacts to be reached

• Poverty reduction, increase in agricultural productivity, and food security ;
• Women’s empowerment and gender equality ;
• Environmental conservation and sustainable land use.

MYRIAD CANADA is working with the Legacy of War Foundation on this project, a charitable incorporated organisation whose mission is to alleviate the financial needs and suffering among victims of war and armed conflict throughout the world, and to advance the education of the public and of persons in authority concerning the prevention and reduction of armed conflict. The organization operates in Ukraine, Rwanda, Lebanon and Europe and has raised over £600,000 since 2017 to support communities impacted by conflict.

Giles Duley, the Founder and CEO of Legacy of War Foundation, is a photographer, writer and campaigner. He is a UN Global Advocate for those living with disability caused by conflict. In 2011, whilst working in Afghanistan, Duley was severely injured by an IED. As a result of his injuries he is a triple-amputee. In 2012, he returned to Afghanistan to continue his work as a photographer. In 2017, the Sunday Times included him in their Alternative Rich List, for those who are ‘rich in experience, rich is spirit, rich in life….’ In this list, Natasha Kaplinsky said of Duley “Even catastrophic injury has not stopped him doing what he feels he should be doing with his life.”