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INVESTING IN WOMEN IS KEY TO RURAL TRANSFORMATION
TRT: 4:50
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGAUGE : ENGLISH / KINYARWANDA / NATS
DATELINE: OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY / FILE
FILE – RWANDA
1. Various shots, Adelaide entering the greenhouse
2. Drone shot, Adelaide working in the greenhouse
3. Close up, Adelaide tending yellow bell pepper plant
14 OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“Rural women, because of the context in which they live, face barriers that are related, for example, to the social restrictive social norms that exist within their communities that limit their access to opportunities like education, like finance.”
FILE – RWANDA
5. Wide shot, people walking down the street
6. Wide shot, Woman walking through the street
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“The positioning of women has been much lower relatively to man and, so, they do not have the same access to the opportunities that men have, so, this is why they still lag behind.”
FILE – RWANDA
8. Adelaide tending bell pepper plants
9. Adelaide and her employee showing an automated irrigation system
10. Close up on the automated irrigation system
FILE - JUNE 2025, RWANDA
11. SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“We were lucky because they had time to teach us how to prepare projects, prepare pitching, we went pitching in different places, we went raising different grants. The program in short, it helped us, it changed our lives!”
12. Drone shot, greenhouse
13. Close up, Adelaide tending bell pepper plants
14. Close up, Adelaide harvesting a yellow bell pepper
15. SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“Many people think farming is just about getting dirty, but you can actually farm while you're in an office, because of the technology we are testing—just as they do in european countries, which have advanced agriculture.”
16. Wide shot, woman working on industrial pipe system
17. Wide shot, woman smiling and working on industrial pipe system
18. Med shot, yogurt pot making industrial machinery at work
19. Wide shot, woman working on industrial yogurt pot making
20. Close up, yogurt pot making industrial machinery at work
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Dagmawi Habte-Selassie, IFAD Country Director:
“We make it easier for them to enter into these food systems, rather than trying to go out and go to cities or even make perilous journeys in some other country to try to cross other continent and by doing that we really give them the opportunity transform their lives, the livelihood of their community and really improving their country moving forward.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, ROME, ITALY
22. Close up, United Nations Flag
23. Various shots, IFAD headquarter building
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“There is a lot of promise and a lot of potential to continue to support and work with these young women really as positive agents of change so that they are really at the driving seat of seeing that the change that they would like to see in their communities.”
FILE – RWANDA
26. Various shots, Adelaide walking towards bell pepper plants and tending plants
29. SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“Regarding this greenhouse we have, we are capable of employing five or six people - but we are planning that in the future, we will provide jobs to many more people, reaching one hundred and upwards, if things continue to go well.”
30. Wide shot, Adelaide’s employee working on digital irrigation system
31. Close up, Adelaide’s employee harvesting a yellow bell pepper
32. Wide shot, Adelaide’s employee working on electrical maintenance
33. Drone shot, Adelaide’s greenhouse
Investing in women is key to rural transformation and improving food systems across the world, that's the message from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on International Rural Women's Day.
In most developing countries women's work is vital for food production. For example, they make up over half the agricultural labour force in many African countries, but they own less than 15 percent of agricultural land. They are also less likely to be in paid employment.
For those who can find employment women face higher income insecurity and struggle more to access credit to start their own agri-businesses – compared to their male counterparts.
By closing gender gaps in access to agricultural inputs and wages this would increase globalGDP by 1 per cent -- that's nearly US$1 trillion.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) pledged to reach at least 70 million small-scale farmers and significantly transform their lives by increasing their incomes, productive capacity and market access by 2030 as part of the World Bank's AgriConnect initiative on Tuesday.
In Rwanda IFAD is already working with the government and private sector partners like the Visa Foundation to fund to fund training and work placements for rural youth.
Adelaide has a busy day ahead. She has a full-time job running her agribusiness growing and selling eggplants and peppers, but a few years ago, after graduating in agronomy, Adelaide struggled to find work.
She is not alone. Over half of the population in Rwanda (57 percent) find it difficult to gain full time employment, rising to almost two thirds (64 percent) in women.
Despite her degree, Adelaide’s financial knowledge was lagging behind – making it hard for her to get a job or start an agri-business.
SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“Rural women, because of the context in which they live, face barriers that are related, for example, to the social restrictive social norms that exist within their communities that limit their access to opportunities like education, like finance.”
Rural women are often considered a financial risk. As a rural woman, a limited number of assets, such as land, houses and bank account, increases lending costs and makes it difficult to start a business.
SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“The positioning of women has been much lower relatively to man and, so, they do not have the same access to the opportunities that men have, so, this is why they still lag behind.”
Adelaide received practical and business training from the Integrated Agribusiness Hub Programme, known in Rwanda as the R-YES project. Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Government of Rwanda and the Visa Foundation, this practical knowledge helped her kickstart her business and develop a strong market strategy.
Thanks to training she and a friend were able to receive funding to help repair and run this greenhouse.
SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“We were lucky because they had time to teach us how to prepare projects, prepare pitching, we went pitching in different places, we went raising different grants. The program in short, it helped us, it changed our lives!”
The project has so far trained over 1,500 youth in 17 districts through partnerships with Rwanda Polytechnic, the TVET Board, and agribusinesses — resulting in over 20,000 jobs created. Over half of them for women.
The goal of the Agribusiness Hub is for at least 70 percent of participants to secure paid jobs and up to 30 percent to start or develop micro / small businesses. By realizing young rural people’s ambitions, the hub strives to create decent jobs related to rural economies, while improving young people lives and rural markets.
SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“Many people think farming is just about getting dirty, but you can actually farm while you're in an office, because of the technology we are testing—just as they do in european countries, which have advanced agriculture.”
Adelaide was also able to fund equipment that monitors the state of her greenhouse through her phone. She can activate, from a distance, irrigation pumps, and be alerted when moisture level drop or when diseases are most likely to arrive.
Agribusiness Hubs have been set up to offer training and jobs to rural youth so they can remain and have a positive impact in their communities.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dagmawi Habte-Selassie, IFAD Country Director:
“We make it easier for them to enter into these food systems, rather than trying to go out and go to cities or even make perilous journeys in some other country to try to cross other continent and by doing that we really give them the opportunity transform their lives, the livelihood of their community and really improving their country moving forward.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Loise Maina, Lead Technical Specialist Gender and Social Inclusion, IFAD:
“There is a lot of promise and a lot of potential to continue to support and work with these young women really as positive agents of change so that they are really at the driving seat of seeing that the change that they would like to see in their communities.”
Adelaide is very happy with how things are going and sees a better future, not just for herself but also for her community.
SOUNDBITE (Kinyarwanda) Adelaide, Project Participant:
“Regarding this greenhouse we have, we are capable of employing five or six people - but we are planning that in the future, we will provide jobs to many more people, reaching one hundred and upwards.”
The Agribusiness hubs have created 59,000 jobs across 9 African countries.
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