Rulindo: How PRISM Support Transformed Nikuze’s Life Through Pig Farming

For more than two decades, Nikuze Didacienne measured life in losses: land sold to pay medical bills, missed opportunities, and a future that seemed to shrink with every hospital visit. Today, the pig farmer from Mataba Village in Burega Sector speaks instead about plans, expansion, and stability, a shift she attributes to small livestock farming supported under the PRISM project.

Nikuze’s struggle began in 2003 when a long-term illness drained both her health and household income. With limited means and rising medical costs, she was forced to sell portions of her land to survive. Eventually, even community-based health insurance became unaffordable.

“There was a time when getting sick meant losing property,” she recalled. “I had no other option.”

That cycle began to break when Nikuze was enrolled in the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Small Livestock Markets (PRISM) project, an initiative supporting vulnerable farmers through livestock, training, and follow-up. She received two pigs, modest support that would soon reshape her livelihood.

With guidance from project technicians, Nikuze learned improved pig management and disease prevention. The results were quick and tangible. One pig gave birth to eight piglets, the other seven. In line with PRISM’s Passing on the Gift approach, she shared piglets with neighbors, ensuring that the benefits extended beyond her own household.

What remained became the foundation of her economic recovery.

Today, Nikuze owns 20 pigs, a cow, and 12 chickens, assets she never imagined owning again. Income from pig farming has allowed her to renovate her home, cement its floors, and improve hygiene and safety for her family.

“I no longer think about selling land when problems come,” she said. “Now I think about how to grow.”

Local leaders say her story reflects a wider transformation underway in Rulindo District, where small livestock farming is increasingly used as a pathway out of poverty.

Rulindo Vice Mayor for Economic Development Theoneste Rugerinyange noted that PRISM aligns with district and national priorities focused on sustainable income generation.

“Our goal is to help citizens become economically resilient,” he said. “Supporting small livestock is one of the most effective ways to reach vulnerable households, and PRISM has made that visible on the ground.”

District officials report that thousands of farmers in Rulindo have benefited from pigs, goats, and poultry through both direct support and community-based redistribution mechanisms, allowing the impact to multiply.

Implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) and funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), PRISM operates in 15 districts nationwide, targeting pig, poultry, goat, and sheep value chains with a budget of USD 45 million.

For Nikuze Didacienne, however, the project’s success is not measured in figures or reports, but in regained dignity.

“I can plan again,” she said. “That is something poverty had taken away from me.”