Ensuring a Sustainable Future for Businesses in Rwanda
- Name: Marthe Niyonshuti
- Job title: Founder
- Company: Amahoro Farming Business Ltd
- Programme: Survive to Thrive
- Country: Rwanda
Inspired by her passion to uplift her community, Marthe Niyonshuti founded Amahoro Farming Business Ltd located in Karongi District in 2017, which was legally registered in 2020. The business’s brand name “Amahoro” was derived from her firstborn’s name as a way to make her business impactful to both her family and the community at large.
Marthe’s interest in venturing into poultry farming came after realising the challenges poultry farmers in her community were facing including high costs and a competitive market as well as how Rwanda’s poultry is becoming an intensive and market-oriented industry.
Rwanda’s poultry industry is a great avenue towards attaining the country’s national food and nutrition security, income generation and job creation. According to the five-year Livestock Master plan from the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Rwanda aims to gain an increase of 124% in chicken meat and 110% in egg production by 2023.
With over 1,000 chickens of different kinds, including the Sasso chicken, a fast-growing hybrid broiler, Marthe has impacted her community, especially small-scale farmers, by creating earning opportunities.
“I now have five employees, including two full-time and three part-time employees, which is contributing to their livelihoods. Working with the community has been helpful to smallholder farmers to get chickens or eggs easily, and access manure for their agricultural activities,” says Marthe.
“Understanding how to identify my business status, initiating a business report strategy and assessing recorded data before making a decision using AMI’s business tools, have improved my business productivity, and changed my mindset” .
– Marthe Niyonshuti
In 2020, through Rwanda Youth Agribusiness Forum (RYAF), Marthe learnt about entrepreneurship development programmes offered by the African Management Institute (AMI) which later guaranteed her an opportunity to attend the Survive to Thrive programme provided under the partnership with Mastercard Foundation.
Through AMI’s business tools such as Cash Flow Forecasting and Key Performance Indicator and Planning, Marthe levelled up her business skills and operations, which enabled her to grow her mindset on how to do business without limiting her delivery market size.
Marthe commends the programme on how her perspective on business shifted and widened her networking scope:
“Before joining the programme, I wasn’t able to identify the status of my business as I couldn’t know whether I was making a profit or a loss; I was fortunate to meet and connect with my fellow entrepreneurs operating in the same field, and I learnt from them how to address business challenges and improve my business productivity. Most importantly, thanks to AMI, I have initiated a business reporting strategy and improved my decision-making,” says Marthe.
Owing to her resilience, in 2022, Marthe was rewarded through the AMI Resilience Prize as the most impactful entrepreneur in the Western Province and received 1,000,000 Rwf together with free access to AMI’s business tools to enable her to keep growing her business.
From networking opportunities to the business tools acquired, Marthe urges her fellow entrepreneurs to join AMI programmes to grow, nurture and sustain their businesses.
“Entrepreneurs often do not think of the long-term benefits though the results may be gradual. I would encourage entrepreneurs to join AMI programmes as they help you rethink their business models and acquire tools to shape your business. I am looking forward to attending and benefitting from other opportunities in future,” Marthe adds.
With a growing demand for chicken products, Marthe intends to expand and diversify Amahoro Farming Business by maximising the quantity of meat, egg and poultry manure supplied in Rwanda and the region.
African Management Institute (AMI) offers entrepreneurship development programmes including – Business Survival Bootcamp, Survive to Thrive and Take Your Business Online, with the aim of supporting businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive. Through the partnership with Mastercard Foundation, under its Hanga Ahazaza initiative, AMI is expanding its reach to support many businesses across Rwanda.
To learn more about the African Management Institute and its work in Rwanda, visit www.africanmanagers.org/ami-Rwanda.
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