Rwanda

Agriculture and Education Sector

SolarSPELL’s first project in Rwanda was conducted in partnership with the Rwanda Education Board (REB). They selected five pilot schools, four of which were rural schools that had Peace Corps Volunteers supporting Education and English Literacy. Our team trained teachers, administrators, and Peace Corps Volunteers at each school and continued working with each school to identify content areas for improvement.  Meanwhile, we worked with Bridge2Rwanda scholars to curate resources for our East Africa Education collection. Through an internship, ten scholars also provided on-the-ground support to the five schools, curated additional regional content, and helped foster relationships with various Rwandan organizations.

In 2022, we began working with B2R Farms to curate a localized Agriculture Library for Rwanda. The next year, four B2R Farms interns translated and curated over 150 agriculture resources to help us provide more content in the local language of Kinyarwanda. We then trained 30 B2R Farms apprentices how to use — and teach others to use — the SolarSPELL library in their work with agriculture extension agents to share conservation agriculture techniques with smallholder farmers.

96
Total number of SolarSPELL libraries deployed
199
Total number of people trained
116,000
Estimated number of people reached

Working With

  • Rwanda Education Board
  • Peace Corps Rwanda
  • Bridge2Rwanda
    • B2R Farms
  • Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board

Dates

  • January 2018
  • March 2018
  • May – June 2018
  • April 2023
  • January + November 2024

Photos from the Field

Blog

AfricaField ReportsRwandaStudent Engagement
August 11, 2026

Reflections from Rwanda: Spencer

"The trip changed how I think about qualitative research ... Now, I…
AfricaAgricultureEducationField ReportsRwanda
August 4, 2026

SolarSPELL field report: Rwanda, June 2026

In June 2026, the ASU SolarSPELL Initiative traveled to Rwanda to lead…
AfricaAgricultureField ReportsRwandaStudent Engagement
July 22, 2026

Reflections from Rwanda: Shaela

"From understanding new cultures, learning through doing, and, finally, traveling the world,…