The Ruzizi Project (View Larger Map)
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 seeds. Now, using cutting-edge organic
farming techniques, the people working on 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.
