BUBANZA, July 4th (ABP) – The organization of self-development cooperatives for women and girls is considered one of the factors in women’s empowerment, according to Mrs. Vumiliya Nduwayezu from the Bubanza area in the commune and province of Bubanza (north-west Burundi), who is president of the “Inkingi y’iterambere” cooperative.
Contacted by ABP, Mrs. Nduwayezu explained that the cooperative is made up of 25 women who came together in 2022. They started by making baskets with a capital of 250,000 BIF. They are now involved in sewing, trading and basket making and have a capital of around 8 million BIF. According to Mrs. Nduwayezu, the same cooperative has already created 4 jobs, but faces a lack of markets for its products.
Some of the women members of the “Inkingi y’iterambere” cooperative, whom we met in their sewing workshop in the central market of Bubanza, said that they’d thought about joining the self-development cooperative in order to
Some women members of the ‘Inkingi y’iterambere’ cooperative, whom we met at their sewing workshop in the central market of Bubanza, said that they’d thought of joining the self-help cooperative in order to cope with the high cost of living, to help their husbands with the needs of their households and not to depend entirely on their husbands.
One of the members, who preferred to remain anonymous, told ABP that the income from the cooperative had made her a valuable member of her small family. That woman said that her family used to eat once a day, but now they eat three times a day. She has already bought poultry and goats to raise, she told a check by ABP.
Members of that cooperative are calling on other women and girls to organize themselves into self-development cooperatives so that their talents can complement and empower each other.