Buy from Women

UN Women and RDO started a pilot project to support 5,000 farmers to increase gender responsiveness in cooperative through linking them to information, markets and financial services. UN Women and RDO selected 10 cooperatives in four Districts namely: Gatsibo, Nyagatare, Muhanga and Nyanza. The planned activities include: Land mapping and farmer profile, Information on inputs provision, Gender empowerment training, linkage to financial services, and access to extension services. The project developed a soft way system which will be used by the plat form i.e cooperative, buyers and other relivalent stakeholders. Each computer will have a computer to record their information concerning the land size, produce aggregated from each member, Loan access and input use. There is compelling evidence that women’s integration in the global economy has huge economic gains: research has indicated that countries that provide greater economic opportunities for women have higher competitiveness and national incomes.

The McKinsey Global Institute estimated that if women participated in the economy on an equal footing as men, it could increase global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by an additional $28 trillion by 2025. Furthermore, there is a growing evidence that shows gender equality and women's empowerment are pivotal to sustained economic growth and attaining development goals. Also, evidence indicates that women entrepreneurs tend to reinvest up to 90% of their earnings in their families and communities, which links inclusive economic growth directly to development.

In addition, micro firms and SMEs account for the majority of firms in most developing countries (95 per cent on average), and for the vast majority of jobs. However, most of these businesses, majority of whom are women owned/led by women, are facing challenges to access markets. With COVID 19 pandemic, lockdowns and curfews imposed by governments as a containment strategy are having a negative impact on the formal and informal economy. Women working in the informal sector and in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are having low and unsustainable income and lack savings to survive during lockdowns and economic downturns. With the world that is going digital, a network of Rwandan women supported this platform, dedicated to women or businesses that are sourcing from women, to provide you with an opportunity to buy from women across Rwanda, at the convenience of your home, thus preserving and sustaining these businesses and impacting millions of families and communities.