Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza is a Village Saving and Loan Association -VSLA comprising 30 members among them 20 females living in Nyabihu district, Bigogwe sector, Rega cell, Gaturo village that benefited from Sebeya project trainings on financial literacy and organizational management. As a result, Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza members, by June 2023, had managed to save 508,600RwF.
Then, Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza-VSLA benefited from the EWMR project that donated to the association a grant of 3 Million from the Community Environment Conservation Fund-CECF to initiate income-generating projects linked to environment protection in Sebeya Catchment.
In this regard, Maniragena Laurence, a 62-year-old, member of the Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza Saving and Loan Association, got a loan of 200,000RwF to sustain the EWMR interventions concerning rainwater harvesting to control erosion and flooding.
Maniragena used the money she borrowed to buy a 1,000-liter rainwater-harvesting tank that would collect all the rainwater that falls from her house. “I am confident that there won’t be any rainwater that will run from the roofs of my houses to degrade the soil, destroy established terraces and cause flooding in Sebeya Catchment”, she expressed.
On the other hand, RUKUNDO Vincent, a 37-year-old, another member of Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza, was disturbed by not having agroforestry in his farmland whereas, by experience from EWMR project interventions, agroforestry reduces erosion and improves soil health, supports sustainable production of crops, climate-resilient landscapes, and serves as fodder for livestock. Thus, Rukundo Vincent decided to request a loan under the Community Environment Conservation Fund-CECF fund through Bigogwe SACCO to establish an agroforestry nursery. Then, Rukundo managed to plant agroforestry trees on his land by himself as an extension of EWMR interventions.
Tugire Ubuzima Bwiza-VLSA has 14 members who initiated income-generating projects related to agriculture, especially Irish potato growing, and 7 members who started projects in livestock husbandry, especially sheep and goat breeding.