Sharing water in Rwanda’s breadbasket

In Nyagatare district - known as Rwanda’s breadbasket - the farmers rear livestock and cultivate crops such as maize and rice, but they suffer a long dry season stretching from June to mid-September. Water has always been a vital, much sought-after resource - with competition for it high.

In 2015, the Rwandan government, together with financial support from the World Bank, constructed a USD 10 million dam and water reservoir.

However, conflicts arose between farmers higher up the catchment restricting flow to those further down.

FAO initiated the Capacity Development for Agricultural Innovation Systems (CDAIS) project that helps farmers in Nyagatare to work out a way to solve their water-sharing problems.

Find out more about the CDAIS project here.