Coffee, cows and cooperation

Need a strong cup of coffee to get you started on these dark winter mornings? Then raise your cup to the Imbarutso Group from Rwanda, who will be graduating from our programmes this year.

The group started as part of a coffee growers’ cooperative in 2003, and applied to Send a Cow for cows and training in 2006 as they wanted manure to improve their crops. They got their cows in 2008, and have since gone from strength to strength.

Nowadays, they sell not only coffee as part of a cooperative, but also milk, and have negotiated a fixed price with one buyer to give them a steady income throughout the year. They all eat vegetables, which they rarely did before, and have some left over to sell too. Their income pays for medical expenses, children’s schooling, and even, along with contributions from other cooperative members, a large new cooperative building.

But the project has brought them more than just a financial boost. They say they’ve learned new skills: how to manage their resources; how to harvest rainwater; how to make energy saving stoves and tip-taps. Their gender relations training means there is more harmony in the home. Above all, they have confidence and pride, and enjoy their new roles as pillars of their community, giving advice to others.

Now Imbarutso are looking forward to ‘graduating’ from our programmes in June. They will get no more financial help from us - but graduation does not mean goodbye. Imbarutso are helping to set up a new group, Imbarutso II, and will pass on cows to its members.

We wish them all the best as they prepare to graduate.