The Ruzizi Valley is located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, at the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika, and across the border from Rwanda and Burundi. Home to some of the most fertile land in the world, the Ruzizi Valley was known as “the rice bowl of Congo” before 8 years of war from 1996 to 2004 destroyed its farms and infrastructure.
In 2006, when Working Villages began agricultural production in Ruzizi, thousands of people were starving simply because they didn’t have the money to buy crop seeds. Now, using cutting-edge organic farming techniques, the people of the Ruzizi Project grow over 90 different varieties of crops, and regularly tip the scales with 10-pound cabbages and 14-foot high corn. Our farmers grow 100,000 pounds of rice each month, making us the largest food producers in South Kivu province. An additional 27,000 farmers in the greater surrounding area bring us 160 tons of rice each month to be hulled.
Hulling the rice enables the farmers to sell it at a much higher price, and allows them to escape the monopoly that the war profiteers had previously had on the rice market. We employ 625 paid workers, and have numerous volunteers who help simply because they want to see the project succeed. We are currently building model houses, and intend to embark soon on village construction. After 50 years of failed development and a decade of vicious fighting, the people of Ruzizi have the opportunity to build a tangibly better way of life. The Ruzizi Project will eventually be a model village that can be replicated in many parts of the globe, paving the way for sustainable, ecological and self-sufficient development worldwide.
