Pro-Femmes Twese Hamwe (PFTH) has facilitated district dialogues in 10 districts under the Supporting and Enhancing Resilient and Viable Employment Opportunities (SERVE) Project, from 19 to 26 August 2026, creating a platform for young people, district authorities, financial service providers and other stakeholders to discuss barriers to agricultural finance and identify practical solutions.

The SERVE Project is a five-year agricultural enterprise and financial inclusion initiative running from 2023 to 2027. Funded by the Mastercard Foundation and implemented by a consortium led by CARE International, with PFTH, DUHAMIC-ADRI, AMIR and Urwego Finance, the project operates across 10 districts in Rwanda. It aims to create 80,000 dignified and fulfilling employment opportunities, with a focus on predominantly female youth aged 18–35, including young persons with disabilities and refugees.

These district dialogues brought together district authorities, SERVE Project participants, project partners and other key stakeholders to discuss the challenges preventing predominantly female youth from fully participating in and benefiting from agriculture and poultry value chains.

The dialogues also provided a platform for young people engaged in chilli, tomato, green beans and poultry farming to share their experiences and challenges especially in accessing agri-finances and insurance services while calling service providers to identify practical solutions to the challenges affecting their businesses.

Listening to young people’s voices

The district dialogues built on findings from a Community Score Card (CSC) conducted across 70 sectors and two refugee camps in the 10 SERVE Project districts of operation. The process reached 3,715 people, including 2,501 SERVE participants, 1,214 power holders and 259 trained CSC facilitators.

Among thekey challenges were limited access to working capital and land, inadequate knowledge of improved agricultural and poultry practices, limited control by women over productive resources, unpaid care work, and the high cost of insurance, particularly for tomato production.

In addition to the community score card, the challenges, especially related to access to agri-finance, were confirmed by an extended assessment that used national data, strategies, existing research findings, key informant interviews in four districts (Nyabihu, Gakenke, Kayonza and Kirehe) as well as focus group discussions in those areas with SERVE participants engaged in tomato, chili, green beans and poultry farming.

The barriers to agri-finance highlighted in those consultations include insufficient informal financing, limited access to suitable insurance, inadequate loan amounts or delayed financing, high funding costs and coordination gaps among service providers. Gender norms, unpaid care responsibilities and limited decision-making power also continue to affect young women’s access to productive resources and financial services.

Turning challenges into action

During the district dialogues, participants discussed these challenges and explored practical actions that can make agricultural finance and other services more accessible to young women. Proposed approaches include value-chain-specific financial products, flexible repayment arrangements, improved financial literacy and stronger awareness of available loans, savings and insurance products.

For PFTH, the dialogues are part of its role in the SERVE Project to promote gender equality, advocate for inclusive and accountable agricultural markets, and facilitate policy dialogue between predominantly female youth, policymakers and duty bearers.

By creating space for youth to engage directly with decision-makers and service providers, the district dialogues are helping move their concerns from community-level discussions towards practical actions and solutions. This participatory approach is essential to creating a more inclusive agricultural sector where predominantly female youth can access the resources, services and opportunities they need to build resilient and sustainable livelihoods.