October-December 2004

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In a country torn apart by genocide, Rwandan women have found a way to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty and despair. With assistance from ARD and USAID, these women have learned to convert waste collected from households in the city of Kigali into a type of fuel, bringing income to their families and fuel to their neighborhoods, and reducing the amount of garbage that needs to go to landfills. The project serves as an innovative model that could be applied successfully elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

The project started with a women’s development association in a poor neighborhood in Kigali called Muhima. This group was formed in 1998 by Seraphine Hagenimana, who wanted a forum to share frustrations with other women who had survived the devastating Rwanda genocide. The group of poor women tried several ways to make money. At first, they tried selling fruits and vegetables, but they ran into trouble with local authorities, who deemed the open-air market unhygienic. Without any form of income, some of the women turned to illicit trades, such as prostitution and making alcoholic beverages.

Eventually, members of the group focused on collecting garbage and processing it into dry waste that could be used to make fertilizer and a type of fuel briquette. Because the women lacked knowledge and skills to produce a high-quality product, they couldn't find a market for their dried waste.

The waste piled up, unused, at the Muhima work site until the group received assistance from USAID. A team from ARD came to design and implement the plan, and soon Seraphine Hagenimana and the other women began collecting garbage every day from 5,754 households in Kigali in return for collection fees. They then sort the reclaimed material for further processing.

With the resulting biomass they make two products to sell. First they produce fuel biomass briquettes, which can be burned by households and industries to produce energy. The briquettes are made using machines designed by the ARD team and manufactured locally—a milestone for sub-Saharan Africa. The three-step process for producing the briquettes results in a dense, low-moisture briquette that burns with little smoke. In a country where 98% of the population uses charcoal and/or wood for cooking, the briquettes provide an important alternative form of fuel. Because the briquettes are made from recycled materials, widespread use could lead to less deforestation. In addition to the biomass briquettes, the women produce a type of organic fertilizer that can be used by farmers.

In a very short period—from early 2004 to the close of the project at the end of that year—ARD succeeded in helping some 342 members of three development associations, mostly poor women, to find sources of income. The team is hopeful that these income-generating activities will continue and will prove sustainable.