Supporting entrepreneurial women in Rwanda
WFP cash transfers boost the local economy in and around the camp, generating opportunities for both refugees and host communities.
Florence Mukayizera, a Burundian refugee, has lived in Mahama camp in Eastern Rwanda for almost five years with her six young children.
“Life in a refugee camp is challenging. I was very worried what life would bring for my children and me, though I knew I would be welcomed in Rwanda,” says Florence.
With financial contributions from donors including the European Union, WFP is able to provide a hybrid model of cash and in-kind food assistance, permitting refugees to buy the food of their choice.
WFP’s cash assistance motivated Florence to regain a sense of normalcy in her life, by opening a small shop in Mahama camp to cater for other refugees redeeming their cash assistance.
“Back home in Burundi, I started my own small shop selling staple food items,” she recalls. Business was good for Florence before the instability began. Crossing into Rwanda from Burundi, Florence was forced to leave everything behind, including her family house and land, as well as her shop.
“Despite having to leave everything behind, I was able to bring along my small savings from my shop earnings. With this, I decided to make a fresh start with a new shop in Mahama, though I had to start very small,” recalls Florence.
Standing in her shop surrounded by bags of maize meal and rice, Florence puts on a smile as refugees line up to buy items.
“With cash assistance, my fellow refugees can buy food from my shop. This allows me to make a small profit and adds to the food I receive from WFP to make ends meet for me and my children,” Florence says.
She feels proud of what she has built.
“I am the only person in my family to ever own a business,” she adds. Florence feels she has a good network of other retailers in Mahama market and hopes her business will keep growing and she will be able to respond to her family’s needs.
The Ripple effect
The establishment of Mahama camp has also spurred business opportunities for host community members living around the camp. Eriane owns a shop in Kabeza market, only 200 metres from Mahama camp. After humanitarian partners began providing cash assistance to refugees, a number of shop keepers, including Eriane, moved their shops near the camp, with the hopes of increasing their business.
“My earnings have almost tripled since I’ve moved my shop closer to Mahama camp. I am able to offer a competitive price to refugees. That is why they like to buy from my shop,” says Eriane, with a smile on her face. Refugees line up outside her shop, waiting to buy rice and maize meal at a competitive price.
In 2016 a study conducted by a team of researchers from WFP and the University of California, Davis, provides evidence that assistance for refugees has a positive effect on the local economy where they live — an effect that is magnified significantly when the refugees’ food assistance comes in the form of cash.
The study found that refugees substantially boost incomes in local communities. For every US dollar of cash transferred by WFP, individual incomes in and around the camps increase by a staggering 150 to 195 percent annually. This is because there is an added need for goods and supplies from both community and refugee households.
Learn more about WFP’s work in Rwanda
