RWANDA: From 15 chickens to a thriving business: How one youth group is rewriting the future of farming in Rwanda

Across Africa, millions of young people continue to face unemployment despite agriculture remaining one of the continent’s largest economic sectors.

To respond to this challenge, AGRA, with support from the Mastercard Foundation, launched the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) program to help young people build sustainable livelihoods and businesses within Africa’s food systems.

In Rwanda, YEFFA is being implemented through different partners, including Akazi Kanoze Access, with a strong focus on equipping youth with entrepreneurship skills, access to finance, and opportunities within agriculture and agribusiness value chains.

Between 2024 and 2027, Akazi Kanoze Access aims to support 10,000 youth in Rwanda’s Eastern Province to become self-employed agripreneurs — or “own bosses” — contributing to Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) , which prioritises youth employment, private sector growth, and food systems transformation.

In Kirehe District’s Gatore Sector, the story of Rwabutazi Youth Group illustrates how targeted investments in entrepreneurship training, digital finance, and agribusiness mentorship are transforming vulnerable youth into confident business owners.

Before joining YEFFA, most members of Rwabutazi Youth Group faced unemployment, lack of skills, and exclusion from formal finance systems. The group, created on 25 July 2025, brought together 20 young people, including 15 young women, aged between 18 and 35 years.

According to group leader Iradukunda Obed, “We started saving, but we had no skills, no capital, and no partners. We only had 30,000 RWF because each member contributed just 500 RWF per week.”

Like many rural youth groups, members believed meaningful businesses could only be started with large amounts of money. “We believed that starting an income-generating project required millions of francs,” Obed explained.

Everything changed after Akazi Kanoze Access introduced YEFFA entrepreneurship and work-readiness training in their community. “After the training, we learned that you can start small, save little by little, and continue growing your business step by step,” he said.

According to Ernest Nzabarinda, Project Manager at Akazi Kanoze Access, the YEFFA model focuses on enabling youth to see agriculture as a profitable and dignified career path. “We equip youth with employability, ‘Be Your Own Boss,’ and work-readiness skills, while empowering and encouraging them to pursue self-employment and become their own bosses,” he said.

Nzabarinda said the program is already producing visible results across Eastern Province. “We are already seeing impact on the ground—young people are starting agribusiness ventures such as input supply shops, chilli production, and poultry farming.”

He added, “Many youth previously did not see agriculture as a profitable business, but that mindset is changing.” So far, the project has already reached approximately 6,000 youth out of the targeted 10,000 youth.

Akazi Kanoze Access (AKA) is partnering with MVEND, a FinTech company behind the GWIZA platform, to improve youth access to finance through digital savings groups. Through GWIZA, youth savings groups are registered and managed digitally, enhancing transparency and efficiency.

The platform also enables groups to access collateral-free loans, helping young people grow their businesses. This partnership is part of the Kataza Project, implemented by the Development Bank of Rwanda (BRD) and funded by the Mastercard Foundation, where MVEND is a key partner of BRD.

The collaboration brings partners together to address youth challenges, especially limited access to finance, and to strengthen inclusive financial solutions for young entrepreneurs. Rural youth often face barriers to finance due to a lack of collateral and formal financial records, limiting their access to bank loans.

Through the YEFFA program, youth groups were linked to MVEND’s GWIZA platform, which digitises savings groups and supports loan management and financial tracking. According to MVEND Super Agent Twiringiyumukiza Nehemia, many youth groups were previously excluded from financial services due to a lack of trust and records.

GWIZA has helped them shift from informal savings to structured digital systems, enabling members to track savings, loans, and financial performance more effectively. The platform also enabled the group to build a trusted financial identity. “Before, these youth were financially invisible. Now Mvend is building data that banks can trust. In the future, this financial history will help them access loans without collateral,” he said.

One of the strongest success stories within the group is a poultry farming business run collectively by three young women, including 28-year-old Manimpaye Ruth. The three women started with only 15 chickens shared among themselves, purchased for about 45,000 RWF.

“We started with only 15 chickens. It was just a small survival activity,” Ruth recalled. After selling the first chickens for approximately 95,000 RWF, they reinvested the profits and later expanded to 40 chickens, which they raised and sold for around 250,000 RWF.

However, growth remained slow because they lacked access to loans. “We realised that without financing, it would take us a very long time to reach our goals,” Ruth explained.

Through YEFFA training delivered by AGRA and Akazi Kanoze Access, the women learned modern poultry farming techniques, business planning, and enterprise management. “YEFFA taught us modern poultry farming and showed us that we can start small and grow,” she said.

Through savings accumulated in the Rwabutazi Youth Group and loans facilitated via the Gwiza system, the women later accessed financing that allowed them to purchase 350 chicks worth 395,500 RWF. Including feed, labour, and operational expenses, the total investment reached approximately 635,500 RWF.

Today, the women manage around 350 chickens per production cycle. “We now manage around 350 chickens, something we never imagined before,” Ruth said.

The enterprise is expected to generate approximately 1,500,000 RWF within one month. Ruth explained the profitability model: “One chick costs us about 1,130 RWF and feeding costs around 1,000 RWF. That means each chicken costs us about 2,130 RWF, but we sell each one at around 3,000 RWF.”

The women now hope to expand production to between 1,000 and 2,000 chickens in the coming years. Another member, Mushimiyimana Thesire, transformed a small chilli farming activity into a growing commercial agribusiness.

“I started chilli farming on only 10 acres, but now I have expanded to half a hectare,” she explained. Through the Gwiza system, Thesire accessed a 500,000 RWF loan, which she combined with her own 300,000 RWF savings to expand production.

Before planting, she first secured a market for her produce. “YEFFA taught us to think commercially and produce for the market,” she explained. In total, she plans to invest approximately 900,000 RWF into the half-hectare chilli farm.

“I expect to generate around 3,800,000 RWF from this investment,” she noted. Her long-term goal is to scale production even further. “In the future, I want to move from half a hectare to at least five hectares and create jobs for other young people.”

Gihozo Graine, trained in veterinary science, also turned her skills into a business opportunity after joining the YEFFA program. “I finished secondary school in veterinary science in 2023 but could not continue to university,” she explained.

She noticed that farmers in her community traveled long distances to access veterinary drugs and agricultural inputs. Using a 200,000 RWF loan from the group combined with her own 100,000 RWF savings, she opened a small agro-input and veterinary shop.

“YEFFA taught me how to start and manage a business, especially in modern agriculture and livestock farming,” she explained. Graine also diversified into livestock farming. “I bought three pigs at 30,000 RWF each and later invested in 150 chicks,” she said.

Although disease affected some of the chickens, she says the experience strengthened her resilience and business management skills. “Even when challenges come, I now understand how agribusiness works and how to recover and grow again,” she explained.

Looking ahead, she plans to establish veterinary pharmacies in at least three locations.

For AGRA and Akazi Kanoze Access, the transformation of Rwabutazi Youth Group reflects a broader vision of building resilient youth-led food systems in Rwanda. The YEFFA model is proving that with the right combination of skills, savings, mentorship, and digital finance, rural youth can transition from unemployment to entrepreneurship.

As one youth member summarized: “Now we know that you do not need millions to start. You can begin small, grow slowly, and become your own boss.”