The University of Rwanda (abbreviation: UR, Kinyarwanda: Kaminuza y’u Rwanda, French: Université du Rwanda) is Rwanda's largest higher education institution. University of Rwanda was formed in 2013 through the merger of previously independent public institutions of higher education, the largest of which was the National University of Rwanda. Since May 2022, Prof. Nosa Egiebor is the acting Vice Chancellor of the University.
Teen motherhood is a growing global problem that affects thousands of young girls annually, especially in developing countries. It causes complex challenges that can affect the future opportunities of teen mothers if strong coping strategies are not in place. This study aims to explore resilience and coping strategies of single teen mothers in the face of adversity. This study employed a qualitative research approach. Life story interviews were conducted with 10 single teen mothers, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with six mothers of these single teen mothers. Using thematic analysis, recurring themes and patterns were identified in the participants' narratives. Single teen mothers faced sleeplessness and energy loss, feelings of aimlessness and self-defeat, and limited social support networks as key hardships associated with early motherhood. Single teen mothers' agency and resilience were supported by both informal and formal social support systems that enhanced coping skills, optimism, and access to some opportunities. Single teen mothers face complex adversities, for which solutions require resilience-oriented interventions that can thus lead to sustainable solutions grounded in the strengths of single teen mothers. As such, future research should explore single teen mothers' perspectives on future opportunities by examining the long-term advantages of supporting interventions.
Despite the global commitment to improving nutrition, sub-Saharan Africa suffers from the double burden of under- and overnutrition, with one-third of its population being undernourished. Like other countries, Rwanda faces challenges related to malnutrition, with more than one-third of children under 5 years of age remaining stunted. Rwanda has been using a multisectoral approach to address nutrition-related challenges. However, little is known about the scope of policies aiming to address malnutrition and food insecurity among population. This study explored the scope of Rwanda’s agriculture, food, and nutrition policies to enhance the population’s nutritional status. We conducted a retrospective review of 46 documents, including policies, strategic plans, and laws on agriculture, food and nutrition. These documents were imported into NVivo 12 for analysis, following the themes suggested by the policy triangle framework: policy context, content, process, and actors. A total of 46 documents were reviewed, comprising 16 policies, eight guidelines, 13 strategic plans, and nine laws. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources were the leading publishers of these documents, reflecting their central roles in nutrition and food systems governance. The review revealed that most policies were developed in response to national and international agendas, aimed at improving food security and nutritional needs, especially for population groups at risk of malnourishment. Reviewed policies focused on promoting agriculture as a cornerstone of food security and economic development. They also highlighted the use of multisectoral collaboration across various stakeholders and through technical working groups, including ministries, government, and non-government agencies and development partners, to combat malnutrition and ensure the well-being of the Rwandan population. While the policies themselves do not report outcomes, they reference national targets and strategic goals related to reducing malnutrition. Field visits, stakeholder consultations, research evidence, and conferences informed policy formulation processes. Rwanda faces challenges related to malnutrition and uses a multisectoral approach to enhance nutritional status and food security at all levels of government. Still, coordination efforts remain minimal. Multiple and disaggregated policies have implications for policy implementation at the local levels. This review calls for a clear framework for multisectoral collaboration between partners at all levels to enhance agriculture, food security, and nutrition for the Rwandan population.
Coffee is a globally significant socio-economic commodity in international agriculture due to its export potential and its role in generating income for farmers. However, the potato taste defect (PTD) in coffee varieties, characterized by a raw potato-like odor, affects the flavor quality of brewed coffee and reduces its commercial value, particularly in the East African region. Although volatile compounds, Antestiopsis orbitalis, and bacteria have been implicated in PTD in coffee beans, little is known about the diversity, composition, and metabolic functions of fungal communities associated with PTD in Arabica coffee beans on a larger scale. In this study, we investigated the fungal diversity, composition, and metabolic functions in Arabica coffee beans exhibiting visual and taste defects, as well as those in normal conditions, across six districts in Rwanda. We used metabarcoding of the fungal ITS1 region of the rRNA gene cluster to analyze these differences. High-throughput sequencing data revealed that all fungal alpha diversity indices (except evenness) and beta diversity indices were significantly higher in broken/low-taste (BLT)-score Arabica coffee beans compared to normal/high-taste (NHT)-score beans. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Chytridiomycota were the only fungal phyla detected in Arabica coffee samples associated with a potato-like odor. Furthermore, the number of operational taxonomic units was higher in BLT-score Arabica coffee beans than in NHT-score beans. The BLT-score Arabica coffee beans showed a higher relative abundance of the fungal genera Fusarium, Penicillium, Aspergillus, Talaromyces, Thermomyces, Kazachstania, and Clavispora compared to NHT-score beans. Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed relationships between dominant fungal species and both coffee taste scores and bean appearance. Six fungal species, Talaromyces pinophilus, Thermomyces lanuginosus, Aspergillus spp., Penicillium cinnamopurpureum, Kazachstania humilis, and Pichia norvegensis, exhibited significant negative correlations with taste scores of BLT-score Arabica coffee beans, suggesting their potential involvement in the development of PTD. In contrast, two fungal species, Clavispora lusitaniae and Candida quercitrusa, showed positive correlations with these characteristics. Functional annotation using FUNGuild indicated that the fungal metabolic functions in BLT-score samples were predominantly associated with plant pathogens, epiphytic-plant pathogens, endophytic-plant pathogens, and saprotroph guilds. This study identifies potential fungal taxa associated with PTD, opening new avenues for exploring specific fungal phylotypes linked to this off-flavor.
Although prior studies suggest that female bar workers are vulnerable to HIV and engage in high-risk sexual practices, significant data gaps remain on HIV/AIDS risks among young single mothers in alcohol-serving establishments (ASEs), regardless of their roles. To address this gap in literature, this study explored both internal and external contextual factors that may contribute to heightened vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among young single mothers working in informal ASEs in Rwanda. This research employed a qualitative multi-method approach. It was conducted in informal ASEs located in both urban and semi-urban areas of Musanze District, Kigali City, as well as in the adjacent emerging semi-urban regions of Kamonyi and Gakenke Districts. The study population consisted of 101 young single mothers engaged in various job roles within pubs, bars, and restaurants, motels, guesthouses, and lodges. A maximum variation purposive sampling was used to sample the study sites. Participants were selected using both purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected from two distinct sources: YouTube, and key informant interviews. YouTube was searched to retrieve testimonies from female staff who had ever worked in ASEs to garner their experiences on ASEs’ working conditions and how these increased their vulnerability to HIV. An interview guide featuring semi-structured questions was employed to facilitate the interviews. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach supported by Dedoose software. The findings suggest that vulnerabilities to HIV/AIDS among young single mothers working in ASEs may be shaped by persistent poverty, inadequate salaries, delays in salary payments, various forms of exploitation, exposure to alcohol, and engagement in transactional or multiple-partner sexual relationships within workplace contexts. This study identified a range of contextual factors that may influence HIV-related vulnerabilities among young single mothers working in ASEs. These findings highlight the potential value of targeted, multi-level interventions to support this population. Such interventions could address work-related stress and the intersecting demands of single parenthood, while promoting economic stability. In addition, programs may benefit from strengthening women’s capacity to negotiate safer sex practices and supporting engagement with HIV prevention and treatment services.
Purpose This study aims to examine how Ubuntu, as an Indigenous African philosophy of relational personhood, shapes women's lived experiences of entrepreneurship in Rwanda. Moving beyond Western individualistic models, the study investigates how culturally embedded logics intersect with gendered expectations to both enable and constrain women's entrepreneurial agency. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an inductive, interpretive design informed by constructivist grounded theory principles, the study draws on face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with 15 women entrepreneurs in Rwanda to explore both entrepreneurial motivations and interpretations of Ubuntu. Data were analyzed using iterative coding and constant comparison to surface participants' meaning-making processes. Findings Ubuntu operates as a constitutive cultural logic, shaping in three main ways how women interpret, justify and enact entrepreneurship. Women enacted entrepreneurial agency through affiliation, obligations to family and commitments to community, rather than through individual autonomy. Relational networks provided emotional support, legitimacy and resources but also imposed gendered expectations that limited business expansion and autonomy. Women's entrepreneurial success often triggered renegotiations of household authority, revealing tensions within patriarchal structures. Research limitations/implications The study focuses on a purposive sample of fifteen Rwandan women and does not claim generalizability. However, its findings offer rich contextual insights into how non-Western worldviews shape the meaning-making of entrepreneurs. The study invites future research to explore similar dynamics in other African contexts and to expand theory-building on culturally grounded entrepreneurship. Practical implications This study advances culturally grounded analysis by conceptualizing Ubuntu as a gendered cultural logic that shapes women's entrepreneurial identities and practices. The study also reevaluates empowerment narratives by demonstrating that relational embeddedness does both at the same time; it enables and constraints women's agency. Social implications The philosophy is omnipresent in Rwandan culture and contributes to women's entrepreneurship through resource sharing in self-help groups and the exchange of advice and business ideas, thereby constituting social capital among women entrepreneurs. Originality/value By conceptualizing Ubuntu as a lived cultural logic rather than a contextual backdrop, this study shows how women's entrepreneurial agency in collectivist contexts is relationally produced and morally negotiated. The findings challenge individualistic assumptions in mainstream entrepreneurship theory and highlight the need for culturally grounded, gender-sensitive perspectives on entrepreneurial agency in African settings.
