Bad weather leaves Bugesera District farmers counting losses

Residents of Rweru sector, Bugesera District fear possible food shortage as crops wither due to drought.The residents expected good harvest of beans and maize when they planted their seeds in September, but all the crops have withered in the area along the Rwanda-Burundi border.There are similar scenes across the Eastern, Northern and Southern provinces, where the early rain shortage affected crops. Over 100 hectares of crops in Nemba cell, Rweru Sector were also affected. In various farms some stunted beans or maize crops are lost in the shrubs.Mathias Nsabimana, who owns a one hectare piece of land, on which he grew beans and maize said on Tuesday he may not harvest a single basket from an area where he normally harvested 1.5 tonnes of beans per year. For the last three years, he has been growing crops on this land which he hires at Rwf70,000 per annum.“Beside the Rwf70,000 rental fee, I spend an estimated Rwf60,000 for seeds and field clearing. I am worried my family might starve,” said the father of six, who hails from Nemba cell, about 500 meters from the border post.In many areas of Rweru Sector, residents are feeding on cassava and tomato sauce.“We are feeding on cassava tubers and cassava leaves (locally known as sombe), which is not sustainable,” Vincent de Paul Rukongi, a resident of Nemba lamented.Residents try to improvise by going to Gashora and Kamabuye sectors where the weather was relatively good. They work on people’s gardens in exchange for food.“They give us either a kilogramme of beans or sorghum, or Rwf500 per day,” said Jeannette Nyiramasengesho, a mother of seven.Cross cutting issueBugesera District mayor Louis Rwagaju said a big part of his district is affected. Of the 15 sectors, five which represent a third of the district, were affected. Soya beans, beans and maize dried up.“But when it rained in October, we advised residents to plant new seeds, especially the resistant varieties like cassava, then vegetables in wetland. Those who heeded our advice will have no problem, but those who did not will be affected,” Rwagaju said.Innocent Musabyimana, the Deputy Director General in charge of crop extension at Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), said districts of Kayonza and Kirehe in the Akagera park belt and some zones in the Northern and Southern provinces are also affected. He is, however, convinced that this will not affect the general harvest of the country.Food for workIn Nemba, farmers appealed to local leaders to intervene to avoid pangs of hunger. “We would like to ask local authorities to give us casual jobs to enable us get food before it’s too late,” said Safari Mutuku, a father of two. “The work would provide us with some food for these bad days and seeds for the next season when it rains,” he added. The mayor, however, said they were still assessing the situation in order to come up with a stable solution.“Food for work is a temporary remedy that cannot solve the problem. It helped in 2010 during another dry season but it is no longer a good option,” he said.Musabyimana said the other plan will be to encourage movement of food from areas which have not experienced shortages to affected areas.He added that the country has several mechanisms to support farmers in such crises, including giving them seeds from the grain shortage reserves located in the free trade zone in Masaka.Weather forecastThe Rwanda Meteorological Agency appealed to the general public to always pay attention to weather forecast.Anthony Twahirwa, the head of weather forecast and early warning, said September-December forecast, indicated that part of Southern Province, Northeast, and parts of Kigali close to Bugesera would be affected by poor rains.“If people followed our warnings it would minimise the damages,” he said.

National

Bad weather leaves Bugesera District farmers counting losses