I am Josiane NIYONIZEYE; I hold a bachelor’s degree in Agribusiness from the University of Rwanda. I
was a class representative at my University study and carried out an academic internship at the College
of Agriculture Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine (CAVM) on value chain analysis. I attended
different pieces of training like leadership and entrepreneurship provided by Digital Opportunity Trust
(DOT) Rwanda where I served as a peer-to-peer coach.
I attended training on soil conservation where we practiced agroforestry that resulted in environmental
conservation; I have also received training on boosting farmers’ yield through the smart Nkunganire
The program is an innovative tool to link and empower stakeholders involved in the subsidies program that
handles fertilizers, improved seeds, mechanization, and small-scale irrigation technology. Apart from
that, I worked at Kigali Agri Service Agency (KASA) as a field supervisor in land scoping aimed at
beautification and environmental protection. I worked as a data collector at the University of Rwanda’s
single project implementation unit (UR/SPIU) on integrated digital primary health care in Rwanda.
I have been a volunteer at CorpsAfrica/Rwanda, where I served in a rural community in, the Nyamagabe
district, Mugano sector. We engaged in different projects and initiatives for ourselves. We did all of
these, based on CorpsAfrica Approaches are Human Centered Design (HCD) and Assets Community
Development. I initiated the single mothers association, which is a group of 41 single mothers aged
between 17 and 29 years old. It is aimed at helping single mothers psychologically feel hopeful, capable
of development, finding a way to create small jobs, and to be able to be capable of helping others not
become pregnant at their early stage of growth.
We started the saving group, initiating one rabbit and one chicken per mother; we started small
agricultural businesses and other different small projects. So far, all 41 mothers have created jobs, they
are generating income from what they are doing without any external support. With the adult
community, we implement so many projects including the construction of 4 water wells, and the nursery
bed of 5000 trees (3000 avocadoes, 1500 passion fruits, and 500 oranges). All 210 households that I was
serving had kitchen gardens per one for fighting malnutrition. They all have human social security issues
like plate racks, landfills, clotheslines, house renovation, and toilet renovation to keep emphasizing
hygiene and sanitation. I worked on school dropouts where I facilitated 19 students back to school. I am
currently serving as a Volunteer Liaison.