Farmers who had
started to smile after Mugogo lowland was saved from persistent flooding
are worried after the agricultural area got submerged again. Michel Nkurunziza.
Farmers who had
started to celebrate the rehabilitation of Mugogo Lowland in Musanze
District which had been saved from persistent flooding are again
recounting losses after the agricultural area got submerged again.
After farmers had spent
seven years in losses, the Government in 2014, through the Ministry of
Environment started to implement a $10 million project aimed at building
adaptation to climate change effects in Nyabihu and Musanze districts.
The lowland on 70 hectares
that has previously become a lake due to persistent flooding and when
the project intervened, it was restored and again used for growing
maize, Irish potatoes, vegetables, sorghum and others.
The project has since put a smile on farmers faces as they were harvesting good yields.
However, after one year the
lowland has been flooded again and farmers have since stopped the
agricultural activities largely due to lack of local residents ownership
and financial capacity to sustain the achievements as well as lack of
regular maintenance of the infrastructure to curb the flooding.
The locals failed to de-silt
20 caves that retain flooding water from Kinoni River, rehabilitation
of gullies in the watershed, maintaining the drainage networks and
channels leading to the flooding of the area.
Kinoni River ends up sinking into the caves and when the caves are covered by sediments, the water floods the marshland.
Last year farmers reported good yields but the situation has since deteriorated again. File.
Farmers who talked to Business Times said that they are no longer growing crops due to the
issue.
Tharcise Ntakirutimana, a
farmer who used to grow maize, carrots and Irish potatoes on over two
hectares told this paper on Monday that the lowland is flooded than
ever.
He said that when there were
paid workers who used to control the caves from being filled with
sediments, there was no flooding but he said when the project closed,
the locals lacked ownership and financial capacity for regular
maintenance.
“No farmer is growing crops.
The area is flooded than ever. Flooding previously used to submerge 70
hectares but now the affected area has reached to 0ver 80 hectares,” he
said.
I have 14 pieces of land in
the lowland and all of them are now underwater. The last time I
harvested was in September last year. The following seasons were
affected by flooding after the project to curb it closed, he explained.
He said he used to harvest over 10 tonnes of carrots, over two tonnes of maize but he is now counting losses.
“We tried to ensure
ownership by contributing money to pay workers to continue regular
maintenance of water channels to avoid sediments that cover the caves
and cause flooding but our financial capacity failed. I had already
contributed Rwf25, 000 but all of us could not afford,” the farmer
explained adding that water from volcanoes also contributes to the
flooding.
He said that they are awaiting government intervention.
Call for a thorough study
Serge Nsengimana the,
Executive Director of The Adaptation Fund NGO Network (AFN) said that
there is need for local residents and local leaders ownership to control
flooding in the area even after the project closed.
The network monitors climate
change adaptation projects so as to assess if the money is well spent
and advocates for the vulnerable community affected by climate change.
The network monitored the
implementation of the project dubbed “Reducing Vulnerability to Climate
Change through Community Based Adaptation”.
Nsengimana said that he also
observed that after it closed, the flooding recurred due to lack of
ownership in maintaining the drainage networks and channels to avoid
sediments that cover the caves.
“Whenever such a big project
comes, beneficiaries do not get ownership to sustain its achievements
after the project closes. They still believe that the ministry will
continue to do everything which leads to losing the gains made,” he
said.
He said that the issue
requires a thorough study to know where the water comes and where it
goes to after sinking in those caves.
“The district of Musanze was
supposed to be in contact with the Ministry of Finance so that every
year, it gets budget and allocates it for regular maintenance to control
the flooding caused by sediments that uncover the caves that should be
retaining the water,” he added.
‘Solution in offing’
Innocent Musabyimana, the
coordinator of the Single Project Implementation unit at the Ministry of
Environment, told Business Times that they are aware of the issue
affecting Mugogo Lowland being flooded again.
“The project closed in 2018.
When the project is about to close, there must be established measures
for sustaining the achievements. We have agreed with the district so
that it works with local residents to carry out regular de-silting of
the caves to enable water penetration and avoid flooding,” he said.
He said that in partnership
with Musanze District, they took measures to harvest rainwater
especially on houses in Byangabo market near the lowland to avoid water
that increases flooding.
“There is also, a budget
that has to be transferred to the district through national budget to
ensure permanent maintenance of Mugogo Lowland to avoid further flooding
and help farmers to grow their crops again,” he said.
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