Pig Cooperative #2


Pilot Light Foundation is pleased to announce its support of the Pig Cooperative #2 (Murama Pig Cooperative).  Murama is located in the Bugesera district in eastern Rwanda. The village is one of the poorest regions in Rwanda with an average annual income of under 150.00 US. It is also home to 100 households and approximately 5,000 people.

Unlike most of rural Rwanda where individual homesteads are scattered across the hilly landscape, Murama has several umudugudus  (settlements) of closely spaced dwellings. The government built these settlements after the 1994 genocide in order to house genocide survivors and returnees.  Only 5 km from the village, close to 20,000 people were massacred during the 100 days of killing. As the country continues its difficult but remarkable recovery from the genocide, Murama is living proof that economic development can play a significant role in the reconciliation process.

The Pig Cooperative is composed of 13 young women and 6 young men. The main of objective is to help young women and men to foster unity and reconciliation by focusing on income generating activities in the fight against poverty.

The members chose farming pigs as their focus after seeing the impressive results of the PLF supported Pig Cooperative in Mayange and because of the close proximity to the town of Nyamata and the city of Kigali, where the price of pork is high. The Cooperative will pay back 50% of the loan given by PLF to support future cooperatives in Rwanda.

In the fall, after completing the first phase of the pig project, the Cooperative will add a chicken coop where they will raise chickens for their eggs, as 70% of eggs are imported from Uganda, at this time.

First pigs are purchased from Pig Cooperative #1

Budget for Pigs: 7,438.00
Budget for Chickens: 5,793.00