Telling the ECSA Story

Isabelle Niyotwagirwa présente ses luffas biologiques dans sa ferme à Mutaho. Ayant identifié un vide sur le marché, Isabelle est passée de la vente d'articles sur le marché à l'agriculture. Grâce à l'agriculture, elle fournit non seulement des fruits frais à des prix abordables à la communauté, mais elle emploie également des femmes et des jeunes dans ses fermes ( CARE/David Mutua) . Dans les contreforts du volcan Nyiragongo, en République démocratique du Congo, Isabelle Niyotwagirwa et deux ouvriers agricoles sont à pied d'œuvre pour défricher le sol et commencer une nouvelle série de plantations après une récolte fructueuse. La poussière s'élève dans l'air lorsque leurs houes frappent le sol, le préparant pour de nouvelles cultures de prunes, de bananiers, de racines de flèche, d'amarante et de choux.   Isabelle est passée à l'agriculture après avoir tenu un petit kiosque sur le marché. "J'ai vu comment les gens avaient l'habitude...

Zawadi Maransi  lives in Goma, North Kivu Province in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with her husband and their two children. She has   been active in the Mawe Tatu (II) project since 2019, participating in a VSLA group, partaking in entrepreneurship trainings, and even eventually starting her own successful soap-making business. Zawadi Maransi BEFORE MAWE TATU Before her soap business was up and running, Zawadi was not able to find a way to consistently contribute to meeting household needs for her family. Her family was surviving 100% on the money her husband received from his work, and even then, it was only a means to get from day to day – it was not a long term solution or sufficient, not even fully covering a month’s needs. Borrowing money was a frequent option, but that only further complicated   her family’s   financial situation.   “We could borrow from where we normally buy goods in the neighborhood…[but] I knew at the end of the mon...

Nyakoang Khan, 45 Nyakoang Khan, 45 –mother of five (3 boys and 2 girls) is a resident of Bhang, one of the villages in Koch –Unity State. Nyakoang lost her husband in Bentiu in 2013 during the South Sudan crisis between the government and opposition. As a widow and bread winner, Nyakoang used to walk miles in search of firewood to sell during the dry season and she would also cut grass to take to the market and buy food for her family. Out of her little earnings, she saved up to pay fees for her four children who are currently in school. “Life hasn’t been easy since my husband was killed in the Bentiu conflict in 2013. Everything was destroyed by the war. I used to walk to the bush to collect firewood and sell it so that I can be able to buy food for my children. I also cut grass for thatching huts to support my children.” Koch, where Nyakoang stays, has suffered the impact of the 2013 conflict, coupled with displacements and floods which has significantly affected livelihoods hen...