Blues Creamery Rwanda
Kayonza / Rwanda
Why the Blues Creamery Rwanda Is Important
Poverty is high in Rwanda’s rural areas and income generating opportunities are scarce. This contributes to 20% of Rwanda’s population suffering from food insecurity, with a rate of chronic malnutrition for children under 5 measured at 38% and a prevalence of stunting of 33% in 2020.
Rwanda also has 1.3 million heads of cattle, and the Mubari Farmers’ Cooperative represents approx. 365 small scale farmers and provides the facilities for them to collect milk and sell it on the open market. The farmers operate at subsistence level and miss out on additional skills, expertise and equipment that will let them add value to their milk and sell the products at a higher price.
The Design
The Blues Creamery Rwanda has been established to make artisanal cheese from milk produced on local dairy farms in Eastern Rwanda.
It ties into a wider programme of agricultural research and development that promises to add value to Rwanda’s dairy industry through carbon neutral practices. It will also create a social business that re-invests all its profits and generates a wide range of benefits community wide.
Article 25’s masterplan for the site includes commercial scale facilities for cheese making, as well as a mix of uses including hospitality, community spaces and education in an off-grid development.
The first phase of the masterplan will be a dairy for artisanal cheese making. The building will meet high food safety standards within a simple reinforced concrete and rammed earth structure. Cheese ripening rooms will be built into the hill to take advantage of cooler underground temperatures.
The Impact
The project responds to 16 of the 17 UN sustainable development goals, assisting both local and national organisations, creating spaces for the local community as well as opportunities for technology transfer and education.
Direct benefits include approx. 160 new jobs on site, and profits for the Mubari Farmers’ to reinvest in its farmers’ operations, allowing them to grow. Additional profits will be invested in national dairy projects, technology transfer and education.
The whey, a by-product of the cheese making process, will be used to create nutritious drinks for a school feeding program in the province.
PROJECT TYPE: Social Enterprise
CLIENT / PROJECT FUNDING: Blues Creamery; Africa Agri-Food Development Programme (AADP)
STATUS: Design Development
