In the prevailing context of higher climate variability with the rainy season being no longer predictable, supply of water is extremely important for the farmers  Farmers in Rwanda do not have enough rain for their production due to drought. There is competition for water use between rural and urban area.

The Yanze watershed is the main source of the water supply for the Kigali providing up to 80 percent of the water requirements for the capital city. About 16,833 households in the district depend on Yanze watershed for agriculture related activities. Due to the competition for water for agriculture and supplying to Kigali, farmers are often denied the right to use the water of this river. Berumuhire Jean Bosco, a horticulture farmer in the Ngoma sector says they have been counting losses during short and long dry spells, despite the river passing through their farming areas.

To reduce the vulnerability of the farmers to water scarcity, four dams were constructed by FAO in Ngoma sector targeting over 200 households. The inflow into the dams is either from the streams that flow into the Yanze River or from rainwater.

These small dams are a reliable source of water which allow farmers to produce their vegetables for their own food security but also to generate income through the sale of the surplus produced.

The farmers have assigned to a team of four people at each site the responsibility to maintain the infrastructure. They say they feel that they own the dams; they pledged to make good use of them while properly preserving and maintaining them. The project supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular: SDG2 – “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”. 

These activities were supported under the project : Rational use of Yanze river water for local agriculture development in Rulindo District, and for domestic use in Kigali city