Meet Mr. Masengesho, a young farmer who dreams of establishing an agricultural school
Mr. Pierre Celestin Masengesho, a young man from Gakenke District, Northern Province, Rwanda who has put his efforts into agricultural activities, says that he has a dream of establishing an agricultural school and a processing plant.
His farming activities are located in Cyabingo Sector, Muhororo Cell where he started growing vegetables and fruits in 2018 after leaving high school. He decided to start his own business because it was his childhood dream. At that time, he started with a small two-acre plot of land in the Mukinga swamp that was given to him by his parents.
Gradually, he joined the youth saving groups asking for loans at a low interest rate of 5% so that he could rent the land to work on.
He said, “Today I have three hectares of my own land that I bought and five hectares that I rent from my neighbors.”
Among the vegetables he grows are cabbages, cauliflowers, beets and amaranth. The fruits include strawberry, papaya, avocados, among others.
His assets are estimated at 20 million Rwandan francs. He has a motorbike but hopes to own a car in the next few years.
During a recent interview with Topafricanews, he said that he employs three full-time staff and about 20 casual workers.
Returning to his plans for the future, Mr. Masengesho said: “My dream is to have an agricultural school called ‘Masengesho College Foundation’ and a processing plant that processes fruits and vegetables.”
He is grateful to partners like the R-YES project and the Kilimo Trust that helped him on his journey.
R-YES project is a 5-year project (2020-2024) whose goal was to contribute to sustainable employment and income generating opportunities for 3,000 youth in agriculture related activities in Rwanda through an integrated agriculture hub.
The target employment opportunities include vegetable production and processing, milk handling and processing, refrigeration and cold chain management, operation and Maintenance of agro-processing machinery, meat handling and processing, operations and processing of farm tractors and machinery, forage production and marketing, animal feed production, operation and maintenance of field irrigation and poultry farming.
“They provided us with a lot of knowledge and tools that we use in agriculture, we have personal protective equipment, green houses and different agro-processing machinery,” he said.
He asked his fellow youths to avoid disrespecting the agricultural profession because it is an important pillar of the country’s development and will be more profitable.
Since he started his agricultural career, Mr. Masengesho has participated in many competitions including the ‘Youth Connect Awards’ and won over invaluable prizes, he highlighted.
