Women Cross border Traders prepare to supply fish to markets in the neighboring DR. Congo. FAO is building the capacities of the women involved in cross border trade to better earn from and expand their activities. @FAO/Teopista Mutesi

Launtina Mukahirwa crosses the border every morning to sell isambaza fish from Lake Kivu in the border market of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Launtina is a small-scale cross-border trader with an experience of more than ten years under her cooperative CODEPEC. However, she is not earning much from her business, as she loses a third of her stock due to lack of storage equipment and facilities.

“I cross the border to DRC with thirty kilos of fish, but sometimes I still have ten kilograms of fish left to sell at the end of the day. Since I don’t have where to keep the fish, they all go bad,” she says.

To address this common challenge among fish traders, FAO donated storage and transportation equipment to Launtina’s cooperative. Such equipment includes fridges, plastic craters, isothermal boxes, cargo motorcycles, motorized pirogue boats, and lifejackets.

With the fridges, the cooperative members will increase fish sales while reducing losses.

“Sometimes we sell our products at a low price to avoid fish losses. With the cooling equipment, losses will be minimized and it will be easier for us to know how much we have in stock and how much we should buy,” says Josiane Nyirabwiza, a member of the cooperative “DUKOMEZUMURIMO”.

Selected members of all benefiting cooperatives were trained on how to incorporate the equipment into their cooperative activities through a business case study.

Trainings to strengthen business skills and knowledge on gender

Selected beneficiaries received training on entrepreneurship, business planning and access to finance with a cross-cutting theme on gender. The training aimed at strengthening their managerial capacities within their cooperatives, empowering rural women traders and ultimately improving the efficiency of agri-food value chains for sustainable development of agrifood systems.

The project has developed the skills of women and empowered them to be more confident as individuals and entrepreneurs.

Mukarugwiza Eugenie, is a member of the association Commerçantes Solidaires pour la Paix/Région des Grands Lacs (COSOPAX/RGL), an innovative program which brings together more than 60 women cross-border traders from Rusizi, Rwanda. Like Eugenie, most of the members were women entrepreneurs. The training supported by FAO taught her how to ensure profitability within her business and the importance of advocating for gender equality within her household and community.

The beneficiaries’ voices

“The first time I told my husband I was going to do business, he strongly discouraged me. Through the training, I learnt how to communicate to my spouse. Now I support him to look after the family, I contributed some money to buy a piece of land, pay health insurance, which before was a big challenge for the family,” Eugenie explains. 

Marie Nagize, a former school teacher, says the training empowered her to start a retail business. Through COSOPAX association, she borrowed money to boost her initial capital. Today she makes a monthly profit of Rwf 200,000 (USD 240).

“I did not have capital nor the resources to make my business grow. The training helped me to learn how to manage and sustainably expand my business. Thanks to the training on gender equality my husband now helps me at the store when I am not around, and we have better understanding in decision-making” she says.

During the experience-sharing session, members of COSOPAX association shared their testimonies to other small-scale traders of how they improved their business and their relationships with their husbands after receiving the training and support from FAO. At the beginning of the year, FAO gave financial support to the members of COSOPAX to start a wholesaling maize flour business. Among their customers, they count on other women traders from DRC.

Christine Nyirahabimana is the president of CODEPEC cooperative with over 300 traders. She is convinced the training and the new equipment will increase the productivity of their businesses as cooperative and as individuals.

“We were not confident to work, we thought business was for men and would only benefit them. It was hard for my family to get soap or take the children to school. Today I am able to take my children to school, buy clothes and feed the family” she says.

Women like Launtina, Josiane, Marie and Cristine are receiving support thanks to the FAO Multipartner Programme Support Mechanism (FMM) project “Enabling women to benefit more equally from agrifood value chains” contributing to FAO's Strategic Objective Four “Enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems”.