Background Narrative
International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Heineken created the Rwanda Maize Supply Chain (RMSC) project to improve the quality and quantity of maize to enable the Rwandan national brewery to source maize from local growers. In January 2016, ACDI/VOCA was awarded a two-year contract to improve management capacity of twenty selected maize cooperatives in Rwamagana and Kayonza Districts. It is envisioned that through training and on-site technical assistance, cooperatives will increase sales through enhanced professionalization, improve contract adherence, and better forecast production volumes and quality.
Project Objectives
- Increase sales of maize to PRODEV Rwanda LLC.
- Increase cooperative management capacity and professionalization as measured using the SCOPEinsight BASIC cooperative assessment tool.
Project Activities & Approaches
Over the course of 2016, ACDI/VOCA conducted five days of participatory training with each cooperative, addressing the topics of Business Planning, Membership, Marketing, Financial Management and Operations. Training was delivered in two sessions, at central locations with members from three to seven cooperatives trained at the same time to increase collaboration and information sharing. Following each session, ACDI/VOCA staff conducted on-site technical visits with each of the twenty cooperatives to monitor progress, help them solve problems, and implement planned activities to raise farmer incomes through increased sales.
Project Results
- Selected cooperatives will be able to aggregate sufficient quantities of maize to meet buy specifications and increase sales to PRODEV.
- Selected cooperatives will raise their cooperative scores to 3.5 on the SCOPEinsight index.
Funder: International Finance Corporation (World Bank)
Contact: Kelsey Pridemore, KPridemore@acdivoca.org
