{"id":3449,"date":"2026-09-01T12:06:58","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3449"},"modified":"2026-09-01T12:06:58","modified_gmt":"2026-09-01T12:06:58","slug":"food-fellowship-graduates-pitch-solutions-to-rwandas-food-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/01\/food-fellowship-graduates-pitch-solutions-to-rwandas-food-challenges\/economy\/","title":{"rendered":"Food fellowship graduates pitch solutions to Rwanda\u2019s food challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Graduates of the African Food Fellowship in Rwanda have proposed projects aimed at tackling some of the country\u2019s food-system challenges, including declining production, malnutrition, food waste and youth unemployment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The projects were presented Monday during the launch of the Africa Food Festival at the KCC Roundabout in Kigali, held alongside the Africa Food Systems Forum 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justine Umutoni, an agricultural researcher at the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, is promoting climate-resilient bean varieties to help farmers cope with changing weather conditions while improving food production and nutrition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Umutoni said the project is important for Rwanda because beans are widely consumed but production is not keeping pace with demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe eat a lot of beans, but our production is low. Production is declining while consumption is not, and our population is increasing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said promoting varieties that can withstand climate pressures could help increase production and strengthen food security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manase Manirakinga, head of agriculture and livestock at Equity Bank, is focusing on the lack of employment opportunities for young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He plans to establish a training centre where secondary school graduates can acquire practical skills in modern poultry farming, particularly egg production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to address the problem of limited jobs for young people in agriculture and livestock, particularly poultry farming,\u201d Manirakinga said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the project would give young people skills to start poultry businesses and generate income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiatives are among projects developed by the fifth cohort of the African Food Fellowship, a 10-month programme that brings together professionals working in different parts of the food system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pascal Murasira, executive director of the African Food Fellowship, said the challenges facing the food sector require cooperation among government, businesses, researchers and other players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou cannot say that the Government will solve the problem or that a particular organisation will solve it. There is a need for collaboration between different sectors,\u201d Murasira said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also called for greater use of technology, improved food processing and efforts to reduce food waste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Murasira urged young people to view the wider food sector as a source of jobs and business opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The projects were showcased during the Africa Food Festival, which runs through Sept. 4 and features food exhibitions, cooking demonstrations, live music and other activities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graduates of the African Food Fellowship in Rwanda have proposed projects aimed at tackling some of the country\u2019s food-system challenges, including declining production, malnutrition, food […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,3,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-economy","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449","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=3449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3451,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3449\/revisions\/3451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}