KIGALI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's "Grass of Happiness" helps Rwandan youth realize their entrepreneurial dreams
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Chuyun Jili
In the Kabuye area of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, an edible mushroom cultivation workshop is in full swing. Workers pour Juncao powder, cottonseed husks and water into a blender in proportions, and then feed the mixture into a bagging machine to make edible mushroom culture bags.
Leonidas Muhimimana was interviewed in the workshop in the Kabuye area of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on April 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
"The culture bag is sterilized at high temperature, the culture is inserted in a sterile environment, and the culture is ready to be planted after about 35 days when the mycelium has grown all over the bag. The owner of the workshop, Leonidas Muhimimana, told reporters.
After graduating from university, Muhimimana wanted to start his own business, and under the technical guidance of Chinese experts, he began to experiment with the production of mushroom bags and fresh mushrooms. In 2013, on the recommendation of the China-Aided Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center, Muhimimana was able to travel to China to participate in Juncao technology training at Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University. After returning from his studies, he built the workshop. According to Muhimimana, the workshop can produce up to 30,000 mushroom bags per month and harvest 600 kilograms of fresh mushrooms per week.
On April 6, at the China-aided Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Rutara District, Butare, Southern Province, Rwanda, technicians inoculate bags of bacteria. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
Launched in 2011, the China-Aided Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Rwanda demonstrates and promotes rice, upland rice, Juncao, soil and water conservation, and sericulture technologies. So far, 47 Juncao technical training courses have been held, and nearly 1,800 local agricultural technical talents have been trained.
According to Zheng Ruijin, an agricultural expert at the center, the China-aided Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center has so far supported more than 50 Rwandan enterprises and cooperatives that produce edible mushroom bags, and currently has more than 4,000 local farmers engaged in the cultivation of edible mushrooms, and the entire industrial chain has led to the employment of more than 30,000 people.
"Juncao from China is known as 'Happy Grass' in Rwanda. Zheng Ruijin said. Through China's "Happiness Grass", many young Rwandans, like Muhimimana, have realized their entrepreneurial dreams.
Nyiambo Obaid, 34, lives near Muhanga in Southern Province, not far from the China-aided Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Rwanda. For more than 5 years, El Obeid has owned a workshop in the Southern Province and one in the Eastern Province.
On April 6, near the city of Muhanga in Rwanda's Southern Province, Nyanbo Obaid demonstrates cultivated mushrooms at his workshop. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
"Mushrooms are a nutritious food. From planting and harvesting Juncao to producing fungus bags and cultivating mushrooms, every link requires the participation of labor. Obaid said that this industry plays an active role in improving the nutritional balance of residents and creating jobs.
On April 6, near the city of Muhanga in Rwanda's Southern Province, Nyanbo Obaid inspects cultivated mushrooms at a workshop. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
Thanks to years of technical support from the China-aided Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Rwanda, Muhimimana's workshop has expanded its production. The workshop currently employs 10 full-time employees and is hiring dozens of temporary workers during peak seasons. The mushrooms produced are not only supplied to Kigali, but also exported to countries such as Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In June last year, Obaid traveled to China to participate in Juncao technical training and visited some large enterprises with sufficient capital and staff. He said: "I believe that through hard work, one day my workshop can also become bigger and stronger." (Participating reporter: Dong Jianghui)
This is a photo taken on April 6 at the China-aided Rwanda Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Rutare District, Butare, Southern Province, Rwanda. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
Workers load bags at Niyangbo Obaid's workshop near Muhanga, Southern Province, Rwanda, on April 6. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
A worker displays fungus bags at a workshop in the Kabuye area of Kigali, Rwanda's capital, April 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui
A worker waters a bag of fungus at a workshop in the Kabuye district of Kigali, Rwanda's capital, on April 5. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Dong Jianghui