{"id":5091,"date":"2026-11-05T08:29:54","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=5091"},"modified":"2026-11-05T08:29:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T08:29:54","slug":"10000-farmers-in-eastern-rwanda-to-benefit-from-5m-climate-resilience-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/05\/10000-farmers-in-eastern-rwanda-to-benefit-from-5m-climate-resilience-project\/politics\/national\/","title":{"rendered":"10,000 farmers in eastern Rwanda to benefit from $5m climate resilience project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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At least 10,000 smallholder farmers in Kayonza, Gatsibo and Nyagatare districts are expected to benefit from a $4.97 million project designed to help them cope with drought and unpredictable rainfall.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The funding, equivalent to about Rwf7 billion, was approved by the Adaptation Fund Board as part of a wider package of nearly $35 million for two climate resilience projects in Rwanda and the Horn of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rwandan project will be implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources. It will support farmers with localised weather information, climate-resilient farming practices, modern agricultural technologies and improved agricultural advisory services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim is to help farmers make informed decisions about when to plant, how to manage their crops and how to respond to changing weather conditions, reducing losses caused by unexpected climate events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project will also work with farmers’ cooperatives, local authorities and organisations operating in communities to help residents identify climate-related challenges and participate in finding solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Olivier Kamana, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, said the districts were selected because some of their sectors had experienced serious climate-related challenges over the past five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn these districts, the project will be implemented in sectors that are frequently affected by climate change. Over the past five years, these sectors have experienced serious problems resulting from the effects of climate change, which is why they were selected for this project,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three districts are important agricultural production areas, but recurring drought and irregular rainfall have affected farming activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kayonza, a prolonged dry spell in 2025 damaged crops and left thousands of households in need of food assistance. A total of 97,951 people from more than 23,000 households received food aid in Ndego, Rwinkwavu, Kabare and Mwili.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farmers say the effects of changing weather patterns remain evident in their daily activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uzamukunda Marguerite, a farmer in Kiramuruzi Sector, Gatsibo District, said inadequate rainfall between May and October 2026 affected farming and led to crop losses in some households.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the past six months, we have not received enough rain. From May to October this year, we experienced unusually severe dry conditions. During the rainy season, which was expected to run from September to December, the rains were delayed. Some households lost their crops,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tugirinshuti Evariste, president of the Rwanda Maize Farmers’ Cooperatives Federation, said delayed rainfall had affected farmers who planted maize in September in anticipation of the usual rains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe seasons have changed. We were used to the rains starting in early September, but some farmers only began receiving them in mid-October. Maize seeds planted in September had difficulty germinating, leaving farmers facing losses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said farmers had also experienced disruptions in the previous growing season when rainfall stopped before maize had completed its development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLast year, during this same season, the rains started early but stopped before the expected time, affecting farmers while their maize was still growing. This year, the rains came late, affecting those who had planted early. Some farmers have gone two weeks receiving rain only once, while others are just beginning to plant. However, we still have hope for the coming months, provided the rains do not stop too early,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Rwandan allocation is part of a wider funding package that also includes $30 million for a programme in the Mandera Triangle, covering parts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme will support communities that depend on livestock and farming and face recurring droughts, floods, displacement and shortages of water and grazing land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implemented with the governments of the three countries, IGAD and UNDP, it will focus on early-warning systems, cross-border climate risk management, restoring degraded grazing land and developing livelihoods that can withstand climate shocks. It will also seek to create additional income opportunities for women and livestock-keeping communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mikko Ollikainen, head of the Adaptation Fund, said communities in the targeted areas were ready to participate in responding to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCommunities in the Mandera Triangle and districts in Rwanda that are frequently affected by drought already face the consequences of climate change, and they are ready to play an active role in adapting to it and finding solutions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the projects would improve access to climate information, protect crops and livestock and strengthen food security in neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Radhika Dave, UNDP’s acting head of climate change adaptation and resilience, said the money available for climate adaptation remained insufficient, especially for developing countries and communities most exposed to climate-related risks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cClimate adaptation financing remains significantly below the needs of developing countries, particularly at the local level and for businesses operating in areas most affected by the impacts of climate change,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 10,000 farmers are expected to benefit from the Rwanda project, which will combine climate information and agricultural support to help them manage the risks affecting their production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At least 10,000 smallholder farmers in Kayonza, Gatsibo and Nyagatare districts are expected to benefit from a $4.97 million project designed to help them cope […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,41,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-hot_topics","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5093,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5091\/revisions\/5093"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}