The World Vision in partnership with European Union and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) participated in a tree planting event on Wednesday, November 24th at Byimana Village, Kampeka Cell, Kamabuye Sector, Bugesera District as part of the ongoing activities of the Reversing Land Degradation in Africa by scaling-up evergreen agriculture through the Regreening Africa Project that started four years ago. The event which was intended to contribute towards increasing tree cover, boost soil fertility as well as improve nutrition and food security and to sensitize the population on the role and importance of scaling up land restoration practices such as evergreen agriculture brought together key stakeholders and farmer groups to plant over 1000 seedlings. According to World Vision Rwanda’s National Director, Pauline Okumu, the project contributes towards improved livelihoods of children, their families and communities by ensuring food and nutritional security, resilience to climate change, and restoring ecosystem services, through evergreen agriculture. “As a child focused humanitarian organisation, World Vision seeks to challenge and change activities which harm the earth. To this end, we ensure that our advocacy, relief and development activities are ecologically sound for the benefit of children now and in the days ahead” added Okumu. She also highlighted that land degradation, deforestation and diversity loss has led to decline in crops productivity which often results in malnutrition, decreases food security, hence increasing vulnerability to the local residents. On his part, the European Union Ambassador to Rwanda, Nicolla Bellomo stressed the active participation of the citizens as the only solution to restore the world’s natural resources. “Yes, we will support you in this very ambitious agenda to conserve the environment, but the role of the citizens in this activity is paramount,” he said. “The recently concluded meeting in Glasgow led to many agreements to restore the ecosystem, and this indicates that we have no other choice, rather than fighting climate change and global warming through the individual participation of every citizen,” he added. The Regreening Africa project has contributed to improving both the environment and livelihoods. Fruit tree farming, especially tree tomatoes and papaya as fast-growing fruits, have played a big role in boosting production and increasing income. Spridio Nshimiyimana, the acting Director General of Rwanda Forestry Authority,commended World Vision’s Regreening Africa project that he said has transformed Bugesera District into a green city. “This district was once a forest that exported timber to the capital city, but in a blink of an eye, the area turned into a desert, back in 2000, leading its residents to flee to the other parts of the country,” he recalls. “So, when you see all this forest cover, remember that there was a time you couldn’t see a single tree so we value the efforts of regreening the region,” he asserted. Nshimiyimana is also of the view that the Eastern province is among the regions in high need of plantation cover, as it experiences more sunshine and droughts compared to other regions. In an exclusive interview with The New Times, One of Bugesera residents, Emmanuel Ndayisaba was very grateful for the initiative and said that it motivates them to do more to conserve the environment, adding that local residents now understand the importance of planting trees, hence vowing to keep on the trend. Since its inception in 2017 and through a consortium led by World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the Regreening Africa project has built capacity for partners and stakeholders, and massively created awareness on environment and land restoration issues, collaborating with 63 farmer groups and cooperatives in producing and planting over 10 million tree seedlings including fruit trees and other multipurpose agroforestry trees. Through the project, World Vision works in close collaboration with key stakeholders. was able to reach over 62,378 households covering 75,628 Hectares through direct and indirect targets in the districts of Bugesera, Kayonza, Gatsibo and Nyagatare in the Eastern province.
