Rwanda
Forest Peoples Project
In Rwanda, Forest Peoples Project works with indigenous Batwa people who have been completely dispossessed of their forest lands through clearance of forest for agriculture, development projects and conservation areas and can no longer practice forest-based livelihoods. The majority are landless and desperately poor. Forest Peoples Project supports Batwa organizations and communities to secure land and regain access to forest resources. They provide information and training to inform the Batwa of their rights and relevant laws, and help them to engage with government and donors to improve policies and laws and uphold their rights as citizens. In the course of this work with destitute people who face a daily struggle for survival, they discovered that their work on rights must be accompanied by improvements in peoples' livelihoods. This gives families and communities the incentives to assert and claim their rights. Therefore, they are helping Batwa communities to educate their children and increase adult literacy, and develop new ways of earning money so that they can pay for health care, schooling and housing, and build up reserves of money and livestock to provide a cushion against hard times.
Batwa Potter project
This Batwa Potter project is improving Batwa people's living conditions by commercializing their traditional craft of pottery and developing a small business enterprise, "Dancing Pots", based on Fair Trade principles. This project will eventually be run by Batwa. The project works in an integrated way on all aspects of pottery development including product quality, marketing, and business training, and strengthening potter groups' organizational capacity. In addition to increasing potters' incomes from pottery, the project is also promoting Batwa culture and dance, and is fostering links between Batwa communities and tourism in Rwanda.
Soko Rafiki offers products from the Forest Peoples Project in an effort to support the Batwa people and their indigenous culture in Rwanda.