How Are Young People in Musanze District Helping Their Community?
In the beautiful hills of Musanze District, young people are everywhere—full of energy, ideas, and the desire to make a difference. They make up almost half of the population.
But even in 2025, we still ask: how are these young people actually helping their community solve problems and support local development?
Youth Have Potential… but Do We Know Their Impact?
Even though the government and international organizations support youth involvement, we don’t have enough information about what works.
→ Rwanda’s EICV7 (2023/24) youth report shows:
24.7% of youth aged 16–30 live below the poverty line.
4.9% are in extreme poverty.
In Musanze, there are about 139,508 young people, but we know very little about how they take part in local decisions, planning, or protecting the environment.
Some Initiatives Are Making a Difference
There are bright spots. For example:
Poultry farming programs for low-income youth have improved living conditions.
The Local Economic Development (LED) program (2014–2017) created around 28,000 jobs, with half going to youth.
But challenges remain: many jobs were physical work, and opportunities were mostly in urban areas, leaving rural youth behind.
The Big Question
Poverty, unemployment, environmental issues, and unequal opportunities still exist. While youth councils, cooperatives, environmental groups, and mobile job services exist, we don’t know which approaches work best or bring real results.
How do you think young people can be better involved in solving local problems?
Have you seen youth-led projects that really work? Share your thoughts below!
Why This Matters
Understanding how young people help their community is more than interesting—it can guide real actions. Without solid data, youth participation risks staying a goal on paper instead of being a powerful force for change.
Looking Ahead
To fill this gap, Cohort 3 trainees from the GreenStars Research Capacity Building Program—DUSHIMIRIMANA Xavier, IRAGUHA Jean Roger, Jean NSENGIYUMVA, Jean de DIEU UBUZAKE, Marie-Chantal UWANYIRIGIRA, MUKESHIMANA Eric, MUNYARIBANJE Jean-Bosco, NDABABONYE Jean-Baptiste, UWANYIRIGIRA Providence, BAYISABE Salomon, NIYOMUGABO Clement—are researching youth engagement in Musanze.
Their work will uncover which ways of involving youth are most effective and inspire policies and projects that truly work.
Stay tuned! The results of this ongoing research will show how the energy, creativity, and commitment of Musanze’s young people can bring real change to their communities
o The youth population (ages 16-30) in Musanze District is 139,508, representing about 29.3% of its population.NISR+1
3. Habumugisha J, Dushimimana JD. Effect of poultry farming projects on youth’s living conditions improvement: A case of low-income youth of Musanze District, Rwanda. Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management. 2021;8(4):707-19.Strategic Journals
o This study provides empirical evidence that poultry-farming projects have had a positive effect on living conditions for low-income youth in Musanze.Strategic Journals
