RW Heineken

completed

The IFC Advisory Services project is supporting Bralirwa to reduce its dependence on imported raw materials by increasing the supply of maize procured from local smallholder farmers. Increasing maize supply from Rwandan farmers will be achieved by modernizing and developing the local maize supply chain through interventions at two levels: (1) Improving the professionalism of farmer organisations so that they can function more effectively as businesses ( within their ecosystem including banks and Bralilwa) and provide better services to their members and thereby become more reliable performers in the Bralirwa maize supply chain and (2) Improving the productivity of smallholder farmers in Eastern Rwanda- many of whom are close to or below the poverty line. The project will introduce a productivity package to farmers comprising: improved seed, fertilizer and training in Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) that is being handled by EUCORD. In addition, at least ten on-farm pilots and demonstrations of low-cost irrigation technology will be established to show how resilience to climate change can be built at the farm level. The combination of these interventions is expected to increase average smallholder yields per season for maize.