{"id":16940,"date":"2026-06-20T12:53:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T12:53:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/bearing-burdens-carrier-women-and-creating-opportunities-for-change-in-bukavu-drc\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:31:54","slug":"bearing-burdens-carrier-women-and-creating-opportunities-for-change-in-bukavu-drc","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/bearing-burdens-carrier-women-and-creating-opportunities-for-change-in-bukavu-drc\/","title":{"rendered":"Bearing Burdens: Carrier Women and creating opportunities for change in Bukavu, DRC"},"content":{"rendered":"International Women\u2019s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.\u00a0 Yet, women worldwide continue to be over-represented in the informal sector, characterized by low skills and wages, poor rates of remuneration that disfavor women, and discrimination and violence against women. Women in Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, face significant challenges to earning a living wage.\n\nBukavu is a rapidly growing and bustling town located along the shores of Lake Kivu. In spite of Bukavu\u2019s natural beauty, the town is more often featured in the media because of continued conflict and high rates of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV). Gender inequality, supported by social norms and practices, continues to undermine women\u2019s progress towards acquiring land, earning income, and securing agricultural livelihoods.\n
\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Figure 1. Lake Kivu and the town of Buka.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nIn Bukavu, many women work in the informal sector in agricultural markets as transporters. The so-called carrier women are a visible part of the informal workforce, seen bearing burdens of 100 kg or more of cassava, charcoal or sand, for instance.\n

\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Figure 2. Women carriers. (Photo credits: Boryana Dzhambazova for International Herald Tribune)<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nOver the last few weeks I interviewed 17 women carriers who work at the Muhanzi Beach Market, a key port of entry for ships carrying goods from Idjwi Island. I wanted to hear their stories. How did they get here? What are they doing? And, what possibilities might there be for IITA to support these women\u2019s transition out of these precarious and hazardous working conditions? Since having arrived here in 2015, I\u2019m surprised that few people are able to tell me about who these women are. They are visible on the roads from morning until dusk, yet their stories often go untold.\n

\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Figure 3. Road in Bukavu with Muhanzi Beach Market in the background.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nMany families fled from their home villages in rural areas during the Congo War, which officially ended in 2004. Among them were women who sought to earn a living. Today, carrier women often live in the outskirts of Bukavu and walk up to two hours to reach the market in the morning. Then they wait for the boats to arrive with goods coming in from Idjwi Island. The women interviewed have, on average, been working as carriers for 14 years, some as many as 25 years. Working conditions are very difficult. Furah said, \u201cChildren in the neighborhood call me grandmother. I am only 53, but even a 60 year old looks younger than me.\u201d Women went on to complain of body aches, painful knees, even hair loss from the rubbing of the sack on the back of their head. Women also talked about changes in the market over the last decade. In earlier times, most of the carrying was done by women; it was easy to find customers who would hire them to carry goods to their homes or restaurants. Nowadays, young men in search of money are also carrying heavy loads and the competition for customers is high. Young men\u2019s entry into the market has made it more challenging for women to find work. Furthermore, men often accept lower pay for the same tasks. Women once could be sure they would earn ~4 USD per day, now they sometimes end the day with 1.50 USD, and worse, sometimes nothing.\n

\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Figure 4. Furaha, aged 32, a carrier for 13 years.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nThe women I interviewed are the main earners in the household, supporting an average of eight children. Four are widows. Others\u2019 husbands went off to work in the mines or are jobless or ill. Women decide how to spend their money and purchase food and save the remainder to pay rent and school fees. Food is never enough and they often eat one meal in their households, dinner. It is difficult to cover the costs of school fees, yet these women\u2019s ambition is to see their children finish school. Collette explained, \u201cI want my children to study and to one day help me. I don\u2019t want them to perform hard labor, school can help. They could be teachers or nurses.\u201d\n\nThese women bear their burdens, physical and emotional, with incredible strength and perseverance. They all expressed hope to start a small business, selling flour or vegetables, for example. These interviews are a first step to learning about these women\u2019s lives, their challenges, and their aspirations. The stories provide a basis from which to develop business options to enable women to transition out of this type of work. Preliminary ideas for business models include engaging in value chain activities with IKYA Agripeneurs and with Community Cassava Community Processing Centers (CCPCs) in South Kivu.\n

\n\n\"Picture<\/a>\n

Figure 5. Carrier women of Bukavu and Renee Bullock, IITA Gender Specialist.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\nInternational Women\u2019s Day calls upon all of us, women and men, old and young, to work together to achieve change to improve women\u2019s working conditions and opportunities worldwide. IITA\u2019s efforts support progress towards these achievements.\n\nAuthor and contact details:<\/strong>\u00a0R.Bullock@cgiar.org<\/a>\n\nFor more details:\u00a0http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/06\/29\/world\/africa\/female-bearers-in-the-democratic-republic-of-congo.htm<\/a>l","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

International Women\u2019s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":16941,"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 center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"tags":[2031],"science-area":[],"program":[],"location":[34],"news-type":[],"hub":[63],"crop":[],"impact-areas":[],"item-year":[195],"class_list":["post-16940","news-item","type-news-item","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-iita-news-no-2369international-womans-day","location-democratic-republic-of-congo","hub-central-africa","item-year-195"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news-item"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23743,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-item\/16940\/revisions\/23743"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"science-area","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/science-area?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"hub","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"crop","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/crop?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"impact-areas","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/impact-areas?post=16940"},{"taxonomy":"item-year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/item-year?post=16940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}