This picture was taken by Victor Mugarura September 9, 2019, in Ngoma District in Eastern Rwanda. It features one the beneficiaries of Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity, a five-year $32.6 million USAID-funded project (2017-2022) that aims to sustainably increase smallholder farmers’ income, improve the nutritional status of women and children, and increase the resilience of Rwanda’s agricultural and food systems to a changing climate. Hinga Weze works to empower over 530,000 smallholder farmers across 10 districts.

This man is pictured tending to his tomato garden irrigated using a solar-powered scheme constructed as a partnership with Rwanda Agriculture and Livestock Board (RAB) and Ngoma District. This is part of a project to set up several solar-powered irrigation schemes to irrigate 300 Hectares in 4 districts. The solar scheme is made up of a water source, a solar plates and generator and a 500 cubic metre reservoir. The pictured sprinklers and solar panels are part of a complete solar-powered scheme located in Rukumberi Sector, a semi-arid area in Ngoma District in Eastern Rwanda where his cooperative will now be able to grow vegetables all-year-round mainly watermelon, tomatoes and green pepper.