Rwanda
Launch Date:
January 2020
Targeted Age:
18-30 Years
No. of Beneficiaries
The project was designed to facilitate access to employment to 3,000 rural youth in Rwanda.
Progress in the Implementation of Activities
In Rwanda, the agribusiness hubs is being implemented by Kilimo Trust as the lead implementer and in partnership with Rwanda Polytechnics and its four colleges in Musanze, Gishari, Kigali and Huye; the Rwanda Youth in Agriculture Forum (RYAF); Rwanda Business Development Fund (BDF), Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Board (RAB), Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA), and the Gender Monitoring Office.
The programme directly targets 1,200 youths beneficiaries aged between 18-30 (840 wage employment and 360 entrepreneurship)
The programme targets 16 districts including: (i) North (Gicumbi, Rulindo, and Musanze), (ii) West (Nyabihu, Rubavu, and Rusizi), (iii) South (Nyanza, Ruhango, Gisagara, Kamonyi and Huye), and (iv) East (Nyagatare, Kayonza, Rwamagana, Ngoma and Bugesera)
Approach
The programme in Rwanda uses six training institutions as the entry point for youth, namely, four IPRCs (Musanze, Huye, Gishari and Kigali IPRCs) and two TVETs (Sina Gerald and Kavumu TVET Schools). Selected youth participate in specifically developed training courses developed specifically to upskill youth for employment. A total of 66 modules were produced in 10 value chains. The trainings offered include a softskills workplace communications module.
Those opting for self-employment receive specific training to equip them with the necessary skills to produce a bankable business proposals to start their businesses. Additional support is provided to those with the best proposals to help them set up their micro businesses. Linkages with financial institutions plays a crucial role for youth to meet start-up capital requirements and non-traditional pathways of accessing finance such as crowdfunding, equity financing, impact and angel investments, peer to peer leading etc. are been pursued. Once the business is established, supported entrepreneurs receive mentoring support.
Youth opting for self and wage employment will be mentored by IPRCs, TVETs, and business associations and enterprises / employers, as well as employment and business development service providers. The entire mentorship process ranges from three months to three years or more/less, and blends theoretical and practical elements which can contain actual training, internships and apprenticeships.
Highlights of Project Operations
The project was launched in Rwanda in the midst of the covid pandemic generating important delays in operations. The project served, as was the case with the project in Nigeria, as an initial experimental ground to learn from which would then be used to render operations in other countries more efficient and cost-effective.
Some of the key features to highlight from the project in Rwanda include:
- Strong and continuous partnership building, especially with private sector employers; the project has to date entered a total of 140 partnerships.
- Robust ecosystem for rural youth employment put in place by the project.
- Strong commitment from reputable training institutions engaged in the project to shift their mindset from mere trainers to becoming youths´ springboards for employment.
- Participation of industry players through win-win partnerships in practical upskilling in training centres as well as in short work-based placements.
- Effective linkages created to link upskilled youth to employers.
The project in Rwanda has shown unwavering commitment to continuously improve operational strategies and maximize the possibilities of success. Reflective of the project´s performance is an achievement of 684% of the project´s target for direct employment. The project in Rwanda has explored all available possibilities to link rural disadvantaged youth to employers and managed to massively surpass the established target for wage employment (904%).
The project in Rwanda has performed exceptionally well in supporting people with disabilities (PWD), with 89 people with physical or hearing impairment having accessed employment through project support.
In terms of gender, 48% of youth accessing employment with project support are women. Female youth represent 47% of those accessing jobs and 54% of the youth becoming entrepreneurs. Consistent with the overall employment outcomes, most women have opted and accessed wage employment (92% of women). Also, 48% of employed youth fall under the younger youth sub-category – reaching the 40% mark the project had set for itself. This is undoubtedly a result of immense effort in engaging the harder to reach younger youth after the first targeting cohort at the beginning of the project in which younger youth were only marginally reached.
All indirect jobs expected have been created, 12.345 have been recorded so far because of project interventions, representing 686% of the target.
Targets and Progress
The project in Rwanda has seen outstanding achievement of target, depicted as follows:
|
Direct employment* |
Indirect employment** |
TOTAL |
|||
|
Wage Employment |
Self-employment |
Total direct employment |
|||
|
Target |
840 |
360 |
1,200 |
1,800 |
3,000 |
|
Progress to date (Nov 2025) |
7.591 |
620 |
8.211 |
12.345 |
20.556 |
|
Progress to targets |
904% |
172% |
684% |
686% |
235% |
You’re Reading:
Join us in our mission
The hubs are a place where the ambitions and aspirations of rural young women and men meet the potential of rural economies. Adopting a unique holistic ecosystem approach, this model combines talent, technology, know-how and capital, allowing for enterprise