Africa: From Seeds to Strength – How Rwanda’s Model Villages Offer a Pathway to Resilience

On any given morning in Rwanda’s Mukindo Sector, Gisagara District, you’ll hear goats bleating from their pens, while chickens peck at the dusty paths between homes.

Just beyond the fields, a group of women gather beneath a tree. They have come together to record the latest births in the village’s livestock-sharing programme — a system where each family that receives an animal passes its first offspring to a neighbour in need.

Moments like these reflect a growing movement in Rwanda: the “Model Village”, an ambitious Rwanda Red Cross programme that empowers vulnerable communities to work together to become more resilient to chronic poverty and increasingly severe bouts of food insecurity.

The goal is to help local towns and villages become replicable models for sustainable, local development, food production, and livelihoods.

For Emmanuel Ntakirutimana, head of the Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting (PMER) Department, Rwanda Red Cross, the model villages represent a much-needed holistic approach to Africa’s food insecurity crisis.

“In general, you see that developmental programmes are lacking substantial funding,” he said. “People will fund things like emergency response, rather than supporting communities to meet their needs consistently, which strengthens their capacities to mitigate risk.”

The risk Ntakirutimana mentions here is growing. Across Africa, climate change is disrupting planting seasons and shrinking harvests. Conflict displaces millions from their land. Rising prices make even basic staples unaffordable for vulnerable families. And while emergency food aid can save lives in the short term, it often leaves the underlying causes of food insecurity untouched, meaning communities remain just one disaster event away from crisis.

As it stands, Africa faces its most severe hunger crisis in decades. Over 282 million people, more than one in five, are affected. From drought-stricken Southern Africa to famine-threatened communities in the East, the challenge is vast, but not insurmountable.

Established in 2008, the Model Village is one of the initiatives through which the Rwanda Red Cross provides support to vulnerable communities, aiming to help them lift themselves out of poverty through collective participation under the slogan, “Duhuze Imbaraga Twiyubaka,” or “Our Strength, Our Development.”

It involves partnership with community leaders and local authorities who work together to plan and implement interventions like livestock sharing, improved housing, and clean water access, while also educating families on hygiene and equipping them to sustain these practices themselves.

“This approach is key to ensuring that communities are given not only ownership of the solution, but the self-confidence to face challenges head-on,” explains Ntakirutimana.

“We want to build people’s capacity to withstand the hazards affecting them as they sustain themselves,” he said. “So when you invest in preparedness, as you build this within the community, there will be fewer response needs. By the time a disaster hits, people will already have ways to respond effectively to the risk.”

Rooted in community, designed for scale

A Model Village begins with spotting potential opportunities within a vulnerable community, whether it’s a reliable water source, proximity to a connecting road, or the drive of a committed local leader.

From there, Red Cross Society volunteers, already trusted members of the community, step in to provide targeted support. For instance, Béatrice, a 42-year-old farmer and mother to six children in Gihombo Sector, Nyamasheke District, was able to learn better hygiene practices through the programme, access to safe drinking water, and an opportunity to earn an income.

“I received a pig which reproduced well and provided me with a source of income. I rented a plot of land where I grow vegetables. I also do other small income-generating activities,” said Béatrice.

“The increase in our income and savings, as well as everything the Red Cross has implemented in our community, is just the visible part of the iceberg. What really matters to us is that we have regained our dignity.”

According to Ntakirutimana, one of the most important parts of a Model Village is ensuring communities gain the self-confidence to lead their own development. The Red Cross’ role is temporary: to support until local skills and resilience are strong enough for the community to sustain and grow its own solutions.

“We want to see the role of the community increase as we support them,” added Ntakirutimana. “Up to where we can say that the ownership of the activities is 90 per cent in the hands of the community. Once they’re in the driving seat, it means you have built the sustainability of the intervention.”

In successful Model Villages, community leaders become role models, and community members spread their resilience strategies to their neighbours. This strong sense of ownership is what makes the Model Village approach so easy to replicate. It builds on values already central to African life, particularly the tradition of solidarity.

Working together on shared goals strengthens bonds of trust and mutual support, while creating a culture of problem-solving that lasts well beyond the initial project.

Just as importantly, success in one village is usually shared with neighbouring communities, sparking a ripple effect of change. In this way, each Model Village becomes both a blueprint and a source of inspiration, helping others adapt the model to their own realities and accelerating the spread of durable, locally-led solutions.

Across Rwanda, the Model Village approach is already transforming lives in tangible ways. Like Béatrice, who, along with her village co-operative, has learned how to produce and sell briquettes made from organic waste.

Hygiene has also improved dramatically, with villages adopting safe water practices and better sanitation facilities, reducing the spread of disease. Young people are stepping forward as active participants, contributing energy and fresh ideas to community projects. Women, too, are taking on greater leadership roles, driving initiatives such as communal gardening, savings groups, farming associations or cooperatives, and small-scale enterprises.

Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters

Success!