A farmer irrigates his cabbage in Rwanda. Competition for water to feed the needs of communities, farms and industry is expected to grow. ©FAO/Teopista Mutesi

Farmers in Rulindo district are predominately vegetable growers. They rely on rainfall, however, much of the water runs-off from its steep hills owing to the area’s mountainous landscape. Yanze River, the main source of water for the district, serves also Rwanda’s capital Kigali for domestic use. This diverse Yanze water needs (Rulindo farmers and the Kigali city) creates a challenge as regards to water allocation.

FAO has in the past played a pivotal role in supporting Yanze catchment vegetable growers. Some interventions include addressing persistent drought in some areas in the catchment by constructing six water dams particularly for the farmers most affected by water scarcity so they can irrigate their crops.

In order to enhance water use efficiency, the FAO-led project “Knowing water better: Towards fairer and more sustainable access to natural resources for greater food security (KnoWat)”, is operational in Rulindo. The project’s main objective is to assess the aspects of water accounting, governance and tenure as well as water use and management.

The KnoWat project provides additional technical support and capacity for the farmers through small scale irrigation. The project is expected to pilot innovative approaches to improving water use in agriculture, including solar powered irrigation in the area. Furthermore, the project will carry out an assessment of the water users and their access rights in the Yanze catchment. Improved agricultural water use in irrigated and rainfed agriculture as well as understanding access rights play a key-role in coping with the expected water scarcity.

The technical advisory group

The KnoWat project has established a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) composed of government technical officers mainly from the Ministry of Environment (RWB) and Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (RAB). The TAG provides the technical direction of the project and will ensure project ownership and eventual sustenance and assimilation of project results and good practices.

The 2nd TAG meeting was held on 24-26 February. The meeting was preceded by a field visit by the TAG in Yanze catchment in Rulindo district, to assess the status of irrigation infrastructure and the challenges farmers face as regards to water use, and consequently suggest solutions.

The Director-General of Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB), Prime Ngabonziza, officiating the TAG meeting noted that maintaining accurate information and data on the amount of water used and the purposes of its use is important for effective water resources management.

The meeting increased the sense of ownership of the project activities and responsibility among the core implementing partner institutions.

In other activities, the project will strengthen capacities on water accounting, auditing and tenure assessment to enable Rwanda to generate up-to-date information on agricultural water management which will inform decision-making at local and national levels.

Contact:

Teopista Mutesi | Communications Specialist | Email: [email protected] OR [email protected]