For Olivier Nyabyenda, a farmer in Karambo Village, Butare Sector, Rusizi District, the heavy rain is always a source of worry. Two weeks ago, a heavy hailstorm swept through his 25 acres of cassava trees and left his family facing poor food access.
"After the hailstorm stopped, we faced a food shortage,” Nyabyenda said, looking over his damaged cassava and yams. "Our way of life has been disrupted.”
Nyabyenda’s experience is common across Rusizi, Karongi, Rutsiro districts, and other parts of the country where recent weather conditions damaged crops and created challenges for mostly rural communities.
Between February 1 and 22, rain-induced disasters washed away nearly 130 hectares of crops across the country, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management (MINEMA).
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Emmanuel Ndayisenga, a resident of Butare Sector of Rusizi said that he lost his cassava and fodder crops on an estimated 100 acres. For him, the loss affects his ability to plan.
"I depended on the farm for my children’s school fees,” Ndayisenga said. "Now, the plants are starting to rot. I don’t even see the point in weeding the fields anymore.”
According to him, the recent damages have led to a hike in prices to rise in local markets.
"Cassava rose from Rwf200 to Rwf300. A kilo of beans jumped from Rwf500 to Rwf800. In the shops, a liter of cooking oil rose from Rwf2,800 to Rwf3,300. Maize flour that was Rwf1,000 is now Rwf1,200, and the premium grade went from Rwf1,200 to Rwf1,500.”
Assessing damage
Local leaders are working to understand the extent of the problem.
Jean Pierre Ntawizera, Executive Secretary of the Butare Sector, confirmed that 420 households across six villages were affected, with about 13 hectares of land damaged.
"While the maize survived because it was already mature, bananas and cassava were badly hit,” Ntawizera explained.
He warned that young banana trees may rot internally, affecting future harvests.
However, District Mayor Phanuel Sindayiheba said the situation is manageable. He notes that many crops, like beans, had already been harvested before the storms.
"It would be too much to say people will be starving next week,” the mayor said, encouraging farmers to use crop insurance to protect themselves from future weather risks.
The incidents occurred also in Karongi District, where steep hills prone to landslides and lightning more likely, according to the Vice Mayor Pascasie Umuhoza reported the death of a child due to lightning in January, along with the loss of several livestock and farms.
"From December, a hailstorm in the Gitesi sector damaged about 38 hectares of maize, tea, and cassava,” Umuhoza recalled.
"We are ready to provide food support if any family is at risk,” she said.
Umuhoza explained that they have disaster management plan in place that focuses on community mobilization.
For instance, to prevent erosion and flooding into Lake Kivu, they planted 40 kilometers of bamboo along major rivers and tributaries, and collaborated with the Congo Nile Divide Project on reforestation.
Drying challenge, storing harvest
For rice and maize farmers, the rain creates another problem: how to dry the grain. Without enough industrial drying machines, harvests can rot if they stay damp.
Jonathan Niyizanderera, a rice farmer in Bugarama, says farmers must rent tarpaulins for Rwf1,000 a day to keep their rice off the wet ground. "If I harvest 500 kilograms and 50 kilograms of it gets spoiled because I couldn’t dry it, that is a big loss,” he said.
Laurent Ndagijimana, Chairperson of the Rwanda Forum of Rice Milling Industries (RFRM), said they are now exploring mechanical driers for rainy seasons.
"While these will not fully replace sun-drying, having at least one drier per mill would be of a lot of help in ensuring rice dries properly,” he said.
For the upcoming rainy season, Ndagijimana hopes they will have better solutions in place.
"If farmers have the space, we are ready to work together to build proper drying floors, he called.
"We need high-quality rice, and they need a reliable way to supply it,” he added, "We are working closely with cooperatives to make this happen.”
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Jean Chrysostome Twiringiyimana, a maize cooperative president, estimates that about 13 per cent of 60,000 tonnes grain each season is lost to rot when it stays wet on tarpaulins.
"To safely store maize, moisture content must be below 15 per cent. Without sun to dry the crop, we can’t move it into storage, which significantly reduces our handled volume,” he said.
To help, Evariste Tugirinshuti of the Rwanda Maize Farmers’ Cooperative Federation said the local officials eased restrictions allowing farmers to cut specific trees to build small drying sheds at their homes.