The government is set to provide a total of 10,000 cows to households in the volcanic region as part of efforts to improve soil health and resilience in the flood-prone districts of Musanze, Burera, Gakenke, Rubavu, Nyabihu, Ngororero, and Muhanga. The provision of cows is a component of the five-year Volcanoes Community Resilience Project (VCRP). Populations from the volcanic region are required to use more organic manure, explained Pamela Ruzigana, Manager of the Catchment Restoration and Erosion Control Division at Rwanda Water Resources Board (RWB). She noted that organic manure helps maintain soil in a condition that can infiltrate water, improving soil structure and significantly reducing surface runoff. ALSO READ: MPs push for urgent flood mitigation measures in Rubavu According to the Ministry in charge of Emergency Management (MINEMA), between January 2013 to June 2023, climate-related events including floods, landslides, hailstorms, and rainstorms, killed 539 people and severely injured 316 in the targeted districts. Such disasters also damaged 18,415 houses and destroyed 7,740.57 hectares of crops. ALSO READ: New measures mitigate flood disasters in Virunga mountains In Rubavu District, 40 cows have already been distributed to beneficiaries in Nyakiliba, Mudende, and Cyanzarwe Sectors, starting with those in the ‘Gira Inka Program' as Mayor Prosper Mulindwa noted. These cows will support our population with manure to take care of their land, because misuse or overuse of land without access to organic manure reduces its resilience to climate change, he told The New Times.” Early beneficiaries like Speciose Mukasine, a recipient in Nyakiliba, are hopeful that the cows will provide both the essential manure they could not access previously and a source of milk, offering a direct improvement to her family’s livelihood.
