Feed the Future Rwanda Orora Wihaze

The goal of Orora Wihaze is to sustainably increase the availability of, access to, and consumption of animal sourced foods (ASF) through the development of a profitable market. Through applying a Market Systems Development (MSD) approach, Orora Wihaze will achieve its goal by implementing two objectives: 1) Strengthen private sector led ASF value chains and 2) Increase demand for ASF consumption for women and children. Using an interactive MSD approach, Orora Wihaze identifies strategic partners among various market actors to implement interventions that address gaps in the ASF system identified through research and ongoing market engagement during implementation. Objective 1 aims to improve the ASF market system that enables ASF market actors, including household farmers involved in small livestock production to increase their productivity, benefit from stronger market linkages, and have greater access to financial products that meet their needs for ASF value chains. Under this objective, three key interventions are implemented: (1) Development of ASF production, (2) Development of end market access, and (3) Development of financial services markets. The goal of Objective 2 is to increase demand for consumption of ASF among households to improve nutritional status among children 6 – 23 months and women of reproductive age. While ASF products are vital and critical in improving nutrition status, ASF is not a standard component of the Rwandan diet due to poor dietary norms, low affordability, and availability, especially in rural areas, and gender inequality in the household and community. The following interventions are implemented under Objective 2 to address these challenges: (1) Development of nutrition extension, (2) Development of ASF product market, and (3) Development of women’s empowerment. Cross-cutting considerations of the project also include gender and social incusion, environemtnal compliance, social and behavior change integration, sustainability and capacity development, and stakeholder engagement and policy advocacy. The project alos highlights the work being done around communcations activities and learning events. Guided by Orora Wihaze Activity communications strategy, the team focuses on key approaches to achieve Activity visibility and build thought leadership. These approaches include networking, social media, and increasing USAID brand visibility at major public and partner events.