{"id":1946,"date":"2026-06-25T15:46:56","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=1946"},"modified":"2026-06-25T15:46:56","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T15:46:56","slug":"women-farmers-face-finance-gap-despite-leading-rwanda-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/women-farmers-face-finance-gap-despite-leading-rwanda-agriculture\/top_stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Women farmers face finance gap despite leading Rwanda agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Women make up the majority of Rwanda\u2019s agricultural workforce but remain less likely to farm commercially or access formal credit, officials and development partners said Wednesday, highlighting gaps in rural financial inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government officials said women account for about 79% of people working in agriculture, but only 50.8% are engaged in commercial farming, while the rest remain in subsistence production mainly for household use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue was discussed at a meeting in Kigali focused on promoting inclusive agriculture and improving women\u2019s access to financial services. The meeting brought together government institutions and partners implementing the Joint Programme on Rural Women\u2019s Economic Empowerment (JP RWEE), which supports rural women farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Minister for Agriculture Dr. Solange Uwituze said women remain the backbone of agriculture in Rwanda but often operate on small-scale farms with limited access to financing, inputs, technology and markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWomen have long practiced agriculture on small plots mainly to support their families,\u201d Uwituze said. \u201cAccess to financial services, agricultural inputs, technology and markets has also been lower compared to men.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials said data from the first agricultural season showed 50.8% of women farmers are engaged in commercial farming, while 49.2% remain in subsistence agriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also noted progress in financial inclusion, with 53% of women saving through informal groups and savings schemes as of 2024. However, access to formal credit remains limited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, men accounted for 13% of borrowers in formal financial institutions compared with 8% for women, underscoring a persistent gap in access to credit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uwituze urged financial institutions to develop products tailored to women farmers, including affordable loans, agricultural insurance, digital financial services and alternatives to collateral-based lending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers said the barriers remain visible in rural areas. Musabyimana Sylivie, a cooperative member in Nyamasheke District, said she was denied a 4 million Rwandan franc loan due to lack of collateral, delaying her farming project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natete Primitive from Ngoma District said support from the JP RWEE program helped expand her farming and livestock business, but many women still struggle to meet loan requirements such as collateral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrea Bagnoli, country director of the UN World Food Programme, said improving women\u2019s access to finance is key to stronger households and improved food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Women make up the majority of Rwanda\u2019s agricultural workforce but remain less likely to farm commercially or access formal credit, officials and development partners said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1950,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1946\/revisions\/1950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}