How radical terraces boost food security in Western Province

After almost an hour's ride from Rubavu town to Bigogwe sector, I chanced on green pastures and radical terraces in this mountainous region of Nyabihu district. The region, once a death zone due to high erosion and landslides that claimed the lives of many people, has green hills especially in Arusha Cell. Many things have changed in the recent past, residents told The New Times. Around Arusha, everyone seems busy; people are loading sacks of potatoes getting the yield ready to be transported to Kigali or other secondary cities. Trucks coming in and later transporting milk are also seen. People in Western Province, one of Rwanda’s mountainous regions, testify to having changed livelihood and got a lot of benefits from radical terraces established in their farmlands. Musafiri Butera and Innocent Bimenyimana are one of the residents of Bigogwe Sector who have been farmers for over 20 years. They are good tour guides in their home region too. Their homeland was once part of Gishwati forest. I and many other people at first did not welcome this terracing initiative. We tried to reject it seeing our land becoming very small. I'm one of the people who were against terraces, said Butera who owns two hectares on which he grows irish potatoes and grass for his cows. The land is now protected and production has increased almost three times, he added, with a grin. According to farmers in the region, it's estimated that one terraced hectare now produces at least 20 to 30 tons of irish potatoes, up from eight to 10 tonnes prior to the terracing programs under the Embedding Integrated Water Resources Management in Rwanda-Sebeya Project. It's the same story for residents of Rutsiro and Rubavu districts who also claim to be benefiting from radical terracing as one the ways for ending food insecurity as well as getting ample fodder for their cows. “We are able to put meals on the table; our children get a balanced diet. We get money for family development since we get enough harvest. Floods used to wash away our land and I was very scared,” Gertrude Nyiransabimana, a resident of Nyabirasi Sector, narrated. According to the Mayor of Nyabihu District, Antoinette Mukandayisenga, about 141 hectares of land was terraced under the Embedded Integration Water Resources Management in Rwanda-Sebeya Project. She said radical terraces improved the livelihood of the population. Food production tripled, she noted, thanks to the Sebeya project. “Landslides used to wash away our fertile soil and lives of people were claimed as a result of heavy rain and farmers would be discouraged. Radical terracing and progressive terraces have addressed such problems,” she said. Official data from Nyabihu district indicate that potato production increased from 8-12 to 18-24 tons per hectare. Terracing has been a solution to many regions in Western Province with both radical and progressive terraces used to end landslides. According to an official report, around 18,000 hectares of land are still threatened by soil erosion in Nyabihu, Rubavu and Rutsiro districts. Presently, over 1,500 hectares are restored for radical terraces and 836 hectares for progressive terraces.

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How radical terraces boost food security in Western Province