Murekatete Alphonsine, a mother of three from Murambo Village, Kayenzi Cell, Bushoki Sector in Rulindo District, is one of the families who benefited from the PRISM project. The project is implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Before distributing livestock, the PRISM project equips selected families with essential skills. The training covers animal management, proper care, recognizing signs of disease, and responding effectively.

Murekatete was chosen during a village meeting because of her extreme poverty. She was among 30 participants who received the training and later formed a Self-Help Group (SHG), saving 250 Frw per week. Soon after, they were informed that pigs would be distributed. To prepare, each household had to collect sand and wood to build pig shelters. PRISM provided three bags of cement, two iron sheets, and nails. With this support, Murekatete built a solid pigsty with a feeding trough.

Her life changed dramatically after receiving a pig on July 8, 2022. The pig was vaccinated and came with 200 kilograms of feed. When it matured, it gave birth to 11 piglets. Murekatete gave two piglets to other poor families, as required, and sold the remaining nine for 270,000 Frw.

“With that money, I began improving my home,” she recalls. “Our compound used to be muddy during the rainy season. I borrowed 40,000 Frw from our Self-Help Group and used the earnings to buy cement. Now, the compound is well-paved!”

Later that same year, the pig gave birth to nine more piglets. She kept one and sold the rest, earning 300,000 Frw. With this money, she bought a piece of farmland where she now grows crops, applies manure, and enjoys abundant harvests. “I even have a kitchen garden, and the vegetables help us stay healthy. We’ve never faced malnutrition again,” she adds.

The pig gave birth a third time—10 piglets. She sold three and saved the money in Umurenge SACCO. Using her farmland as collateral, she secured a 300,000 Frw loan, which she invested in building two new pigsties worth about 75,000 Frw each. She has since repaid the loan.

When the pig gave birth a fourth time—eight piglets—she sold two, gave two to a neighbor under a profit-sharing arrangement, and kept two. The income from piglet sales helped her pay school fees, buy school supplies, and cover her family’s health insurance (Mutuelle de Santé) on time.

“Now, there is no more poverty here!” she proudly says.

Murekatete also renovated her once dilapidated house. “Now it looks modern—you can’t even tell I was once among the poorest,” she explains. She used her savings and loan balance to fix the house, even buying a new door worth 90,000 Frw with money from piglet sales and cassava harvests. Today, her home even has electricity—something she attributes to the pig from PRISM.

In addition to improving her own life, she also supports neighbors. Through PRISM, she received a 1,000-liter rainwater harvesting tank, which she uses to provide clean water for her pigs. However, she notes that the tank is not sufficient, and fetching water from afar is still a challenge. She also highlights that animal feed, while available, remains expensive. With cheaper feed and reliable water access, she believes she could raise 40 to 50 pigs, as she has enough land.

With the progress she has made, her gratitude remains unwavering.
“I deeply thank the Government of Rwanda for bringing the PRISM project. I received all the basic support I needed, and I am still on my journey of development,” she concludes.

The PRISM project aims to reduce poverty by empowering poor rural men, women, and youth to participate in transforming Rwanda’s livestock sub-sector and strengthening resilience. Specifically, it seeks to increase the competitiveness and profitability of the small livestock sub-sector, ensuring the delivery of quality products from smallholder producers to domestic and regional markets.

The project targets 26,355 households: 23,400 poor rural households in Ubudehe Categories 1 and 2, 1,530 youth, and 1,425 farmers engaged in productive alliances. It is expected to distribute 12,074 pigs to vulnerable households, significantly contributing to poverty alleviation.