Mobilizing women and youth for the protection of the Nyabarongo River watershed and the restoration of transboundary ecosystems

Nyabarongo River is major River in Rwanda part of the upper headwater of the transboundary river Nile, with a total length of 351Kms, it is the longest river in entirely Rwanda. Its extended 421Kms upper course of Akagera Transboundary River before joining Ruvuvu river to form river Akagera. The river begins its course at the confluence of the rivers Mbirurume and Mwogo in the South West of the country. Nyabarongo is the longest river in Rwanda, part of the upper headwaters of the Nile. It turns into Akagera River, which eventually flows into Lake Victoria and forms the Nile River. This river accommodates biodiversity, and supplies water for hydropower production, clean water supply as well as irrigation among other purposes.

“There have been many projects to control soil erosion and conserve the river, but there is lack of proper monitoring to ensure implementation of the existing projects is successful, and ownership among citizens,” Josephat Kanyeshuri, a researcher in environmental studies said.The soil erosion is affecting all districts in the river’s catchment.  Terraces need to be well scaled up and educate farmers on how to adopt affordable techniques. The tributaries that flow into Nyabarongo River also need to be conserved. There is a need for increasing the forestry in the catchment and buffer zones. Our interventions will focus on the protection of the upper Nyabugogo catchment, where we intend to pilot some specific interventions including the establishment of soil erosion control trenches, plantation of agroforestry trees and afforestation for the restoration of degraded ecosystem, riverbank protection for biodiversity restoration, rain water harvesting, etc. We believe this will have a positive and sustainable impact on the watershed of transboundary Kagera River.