Where chickens and goats now meet fair prices: Inside Rubengera’s quiet market revolution

By Elias HAKIZIMANA.

On a busy market day in Rubengera, the sounds tell the story first, hens clucking from woven cages, goats tugging at their ropes, traders calling out offers with confidence rather than caution.

What looks like an ordinary rural market today marks a significant shift for small livestock farmers in Karongi District, where selling animals was once an uncertain and risky affair.

At the center of this transformation is the Rubengera small livestock market in Bubazi Cell, a structured trading space that has replaced years of improvised, insecure transactions.

Built under the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Small Livestock Markets Programme (PRISM), the market has quietly changed how farmers sell, how traders buy, and how value is shared.

For Mariya Nyirabantu, a poultry trader from Rubagwe Cell, Rubengera Sector, the market has brought stability to a business that once depended on luck as much as effort.

Her routine involves buying hens in Rubengera and transporting them to Gisenyi market—a trade she has relied on for her daily income.

“There was a time when doing this business meant constant worry,” she says.

“Hens could be stolen, deals could collapse, and there was no protection for sellers.” She adds.

Today, she describes a safer, more predictable environment where traders operate from one designated place, free from the chaos that once defined small livestock trade.

The market’s security, she says, has allowed her and others to grow their businesses without fear.

That sense of relief is shared by livestock farmers like Innocent Zigiranyirazo from Rusebeya Sector.

As a goat farmer, he remembers when selling animals meant opening one’s home to buyers who often arrived with fixed prices and little room for negotiation.

“Back then, insecurity was a serious issue,” he explains. “Goats were stolen, and farmers had no protection.” He adds.

The new market, he says, has changed that reality. Fully fenced and guarded, it offers farmers a secure place to trade and, just as importantly, a level playing field. Instead of accepting whatever buyers propose, farmers now sell with clear reference prices that reflect the true value of their animals.

District leaders say the benefits of the market go beyond individual livelihoods.

Pascasie Umuhoza, the Vice Mayor in charge of Social Affairs in Karongi District, says the shift to centralized trading has brought order to a sector that was difficult to regulate.

“When buyers moved from home to home, farmers were often exploited,” she says. “At the market, prices are known, negotiations are fair, and farmers sell with confidence.”

She notes that the organized system has reduced losses for farmers while also improving tax collection for the district—an outcome that supports local development alongside household incomes.

The Rubengera market is one outcome of a much wider intervention. Through PRISM, Karongi District has seen sustained investment in both livestock production and farmer capacity.

Thousands of animals were distributed directly to households, while others were shared through the Passing on Gifts model, allowing beneficiaries to pass on offspring to neighbors.

From an initial distribution of just over 10,000 animals combined, the benefits have rippled through communities, strengthening social ties and expanding income opportunities.

Training has been just as critical. Farmers have learned about balanced animal nutrition, modern husbandry practices, and how livestock farming can support self-employment and job creation.

These skills have helped households raise healthier animals and rely on livestock not as a last resort, but as a viable economic pathway.

PRISM has also tackled practical constraints that often limit rural productivity.

Solar panels have improved access to electricity for farming households, while water tanks have eased shortages that affect both livestock and domestic use.

In Karongi, the programme has further supported the construction of a pig slaughterhouse, offering farmers safer and more reliable access to formal markets.

Nationally, PRISM operates in 15 districts, focusing on pigs, poultry, goats, and sheep. Funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB), the programme was launched in 2021 with an initial budget of USD 45 million. Its mission is to reduce poverty and food insecurity by strengthening livestock systems and connecting small producers to functional markets.

In Rubengera, that mission is no longer an abstract policy goal. It is visible in the way farmers negotiate prices, in the security of a fenced marketplace, and in the quiet confidence of traders who now know that when they arrive with their animals, they will leave with fair value.

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