Nyamagabe: SAIP Strengthens Nutrition and Transforms Rural Livelihoods

The Sustainable Agricultural Intensification and Food Security Project (SAIP), implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board transforms life of Nyamagabe district residents through food satisfaction and security.

For 33-year-old MUKASHYAKA Annonciate, a mother of two from Gitega Village, Cyanika Sector of Nyamagabe District, SAIP came as a timely answer to a struggle she had silently endured for years. Before joining the project, life was defined by daily survival. Feeding her children was a constant challenge, and balanced nutrition was a distant dream.

“I was living a life of struggling to find what to eat,” she recalls.

Her turning point came when SAIP selected her among vulnerable households to receive support. She was given four chickens, a poultry shelter, feed, and comprehensive training on poultry management. What seemed like a small intervention soon became a life-changing opportunity.

Within three months, the chickens began laying eggs. For the first time, her family had regular access to animal protein. The impact was immediate and deeply personal. Her youngest child, who at one year and eight months weighed only seven kilograms and was experiencing growth challenges, began to recover steadily after being fed eggs regularly.

“The child started growing well,” she says with relief. “We now have enough eggs for home consumption, and I even sell the surplus to meet other household needs.”

Now, Annonciate owns sixteen chickens and saves approximately two thousand Rwandan francs every week. What began as four chickens has grown into a sustainable micro-enterprise. Beyond nutrition, she has gained financial independence and a renewed sense of confidence.

“I am very grateful to SAIP because it helped me in many ways,” she affirms. “I confirm that I have no plan of going backward in my economic journey. I want to continue expanding poultry farming to improve my life even more.” She says

Habimana Thadée, Vice Mayor in charge of Economic Development in Nyamagabe District, says that SAIP has significantly contributed to reducing poverty and improving food security across the district.

“I thank the country’s leadership for continuously thinking about the development of Nyamagabe District and bringing us SAIP,” he said. “Under SAIP II, farmers have learned modern agricultural practices that have increased productivity, improved food self-sufficiency, and enabled them to supply markets.”

In Cyanika Sector alone, SAIP interventions cover 128 hectares of marshland across CYOGO (56 ha) and MUZIRANTWAGO (72 ha). Two major cooperatives KOIKWI with 1,063 members and ABIBUMBIYEHAMWE with 786 members bring together a total of 1,849 farmers benefiting from improved agricultural practices and infrastructure.

The project’s nutrition-focused interventions go beyond poultry distribution. Hundreds of households have received mushroom tubes, iron-fortified beans, fruit trees such as avocado, passion fruit, and tree tomato, as well as sweet potato cuttings rich in essential nutrients. These diversified inputs are designed to fight malnutrition sustainably while boosting household incomes.

Small-Scale Irrigation Technology (SSIT) support has further strengthened resilience. Through design, assessment, installation, and supervision of irrigation systems including motor pumps farmers are now less dependent on unpredictable rainfall. This ensures year-round production, higher yields, and stable incomes.

Ezra Mutabaruka, SAIP Project Manager, emphasizes that agriculture and livestock improvement remain central to the project’s mission.

“One of the objectives of the project is to increase agricultural productivity, improve market access, and strengthen food security for targeted beneficiaries within our intervention areas,” he said.

The impact in Nyamagabe demonstrates that strengthening nutrition is not merely about food distribution it is about empowering households with knowledge, assets, and sustainable systems.