act
Historically, national parks were developed along protectionist principles to stave off
illegal extraction of plants and wildlife. However, there have been calls to involve local
communities in sustainable management of natural resources in recent years. The main objective
of this study was to examine the economic activities carried out by rural women located near the
Virunga National Park (VNP) in Northern Rwanda. The research also determined the role of such
activities in enhancing their financial condition. A total of 118 respondents were selected from
Musanze District using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data was mainly collected through a
structured questionnaire transcribed in Kinyarwanda. Iteratively Reweighted Least Squares (IRLS)
robust regression and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed that
basket weaving and agriculture (crop and livestock) were important activities in the lives of rural
women. However, most women earned less than 44,190.71Rwf ($73USD) per year and lived in
extreme poverty. IRLS robust regression results suggested that location, self-confidence and the
type of economic activity were statistically associated with annual household income (p<0.05).
These results revealed the importance of building self-confidence and exploring location-specific
business opportunities for enhanced incomes among rural women.