19th January 2023: Beneficiaries of the Embedding Integrated Water Resources Management in Rwanda (EWMR) – Sebeya Landscape Restoration Pilot Project (SLRPP) expressed their gratitude for various activities that have been implemented over a four-year period to transform their livelihoods.

This was through the project’s media tour , which was curated by the Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and took place from 17th to 19th January 2023 in Nyabihu, Rubavu, and Rutsiro Districts.

It was a critical moment for the beneficiaries to pay heed to their testimonies about the changes brought about by their respective regions.

The goal of the EWMR – SLP Project is “to improve catchment management, contributing to increased resilience of communities and landscapes to the impacts of climate change and other drivers”.

Central to the project is the Participatory Community Approach (PCA) that empowers local communities to identify, prioritize, and co-implement landscape restoration and integrated water resources management interventions through the development of Village Land Use Action Plans (VLUAPs).

BENEFICIARIES SPEAK OUT

Musafiri Butera, a farmer and one of the beneficiaries of the project from Bigogwe Sector in Nyabihu District, is overjoyed that terraces have been created on his farmland and have proven to be beneficial.

" My family and I are grateful to the Sebeya project for constructing terraces in our three-hectare farmland. The landscape restoration initiatives have extremely helped us prevent soil erosion and increase our agricultural yields."

The havoc caused by Sebeya river floods has been reduced, according to Espérance Mukarukundo, a resident from Nyundo Sector in Rubavu District, thanks to flood control infrastructures built through this project.

" The Sebeya project has thoroughly saved our lives. Now, we can safely run our daily activities in Kanama and Nyundo Sectors thanks to flood control infrastructures that have been built to protect us from Sebeya river floods, which used to destroy a number of properties and claim lives of people," Mukarukundo testifies.

Félicien Twagirayezu from Nyabirasi Sector in Rutsiro District has shared how the Girinka program is not only a source of milk, but also a significant aid in combating soil erosion for his family.

" Aside from milk, the cow provided to my family through the Girinka Program assisted us in obtaining manure to fertilized our soil. This has also been a huge help in combating soil erosion, which used to economically affect us. Furthermore, the quality of our crops has improved." he says.

PROJECT’S ACHIEVEMENTS

Since 2019, the EWMR – SLRPP in the Sebeya catchment at Rubavu, Rutsiro, Nyabihu and Ngororero districts implemented various activities such as flood mitigation structures, terraces, afforestation, agroforestry, as well as supporting measures including cows, small livestock, rainwater harvesting, cooking stoves to households and schools, kitchen gardens and Community Environment Conservation Fund (CECF) through Village Saving and Loan Associations, among others as detailed below:

1. Degraded land restoring activities:

•  Radical terraces on 1,559.73 hectares

•  Progressive terraces on 836.37 hectares

•  Trenches in forests on 2,818.13 hectares

•  Afforestation on 215.68 hectares

•  Agroforestry on 730.90 hectares

2. Flood-curbing infrastructures in Kanama and Nyundo Sectors, in Rubavu District to protect local citizens against Sebeya river floods:

•  Sebeya lateral dyke

•  Bukeri diversion channel

•  Flood retention walls

•  Ongoing Sebeya retention dam

3. Supporting measures among residents:

•  860 cows to the households through the #Girinka Program

•  621 Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) tanks to households

•  35 RWH tanks to schools

•  2,182 small livestock

•  154 kitchen gardens

•  3,249 Improved Cooking Stoves (ICS)

•  12 ICS to Schools

•  331 Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLAs) established, with over 6,000 members of which 58% were women

Find more photos of the Sebeya Project  |  Also click here to see the media tour’s photos