{"id":14373,"date":"2026-06-20T12:34:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:34:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/step-targets-rwandan-expansion\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T21:28:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T21:28:37","slug":"step-targets-rwandan-expansion","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/step-targets-rwandan-expansion\/","title":{"rendered":"STEP targets Rwandan expansion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In line with its founding objectives, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.startthemearly.org\/\">Start Them Early Program (STEP)<\/a> has continued to create opportunities in the agricultural sector for young, school-age children in three African countries\u2014DR Congo, Kenya, and Nigeria. To pursue this further, the TAAT-STEP project team in DR Congo recently embarked on a four-day visit to neighboring Rwanda, exploring expansion opportunities to reach young people in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><figure id=\"attachment_25104\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-25104\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25104\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/The-STEP-team-with-Sister-Marie-Marguerite.jpg\" alt=\"The STEP team with Sister Marie Marguerite, the School Supervisor at Saint Nicholas School, Nyamasheke\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-25104\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The STEP team with Sister Marie Marguerite, the School Supervisor at Saint Nicholas School, Nyamasheke<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The STEP delegation\u2014Samuel Mugambi, Welissa Mulei, Bobo Tangabanga, and Kavunja Kusinza\u2014met with the Nyamasheke District Vice Mayor for social and economic affairs, Hon. Athanasie Mukankusi. The meeting resolved that the team would utilize <a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\">IITA<\/a>\u2019s existing presence in Rwanda to facilitate collaboration for knowledge transfer to enhance the value of Rwandan youth through STEP projects in secondary schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The team also visited two schools in the district: Saint Nicholas School, Nyamasheke, and EAV Ntendezi School, Nyamasheke. Afterward, the TAAT-STEP team met with the IITA Rwandan Country Representative <a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/iita-staff\/konlambigue-matieyedou\/\">Matieyedou Konlambigue<\/a> to discuss concerns and a strategy to get the initiative off to a strong start. Konlambigue assured the team of his complete support to ensure the success of Rwandan collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Contributed by the STEP Team<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In line with its founding objectives, the Start Them Early Program (STEP) has continued to create opportunities in the agricultural sector for young, school-age children in three African countries\u2014DR Congo, Kenya, and Nigeria.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":14374,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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