Rwanda is a country where about 86% of the people rely on agriculture for subsistence. Unlike other parts of the country, the districts of  Nyamagabe, Nyaruguru, Rusizi, Nyamasheke, and Karongi suffer from highly acidic soil. This means that only certain crops can be grown and the crop yields are very low. There isn’t even enough food to feed the livestock in those districts, let alone the 5,000,000 people who live in those districts as per the 2022 census. In contrast, those districts are next to Nyungwe National Forest, an area that has the most biodiversity in the country, and fertile soil. As a result, many poor people from the two districts use the land in Nyungwe for illegal activities that destroy the ecosystem and threaten thousands of species of plants and animals. Nyungwe provides Rwanda with 70% of its water supply so preserving this area is vital to the future of the country. The overarching challenge is reducing poverty and improving access to food for the people of these districts while protecting the biodiversity of Nyungwe. The specific challenge is improving soil quality of the 5 districts so that people can grow more food and sustain more livestock so that they don’t need to destroy the Forest.

Climate change has affected the communities in that area (due to the structure of landscape) and they really need support to adapt themselves to the effects of the Climate Change. The 5 Districts where the project will be implemented are mountainous region consisting of hills taking the aspects of peaks dominated by rural inhabitant practicing combination of agriculture and livestock’s production model. A big number of populations in targeted zone experience poverty and food insecurity as they use to eat once a day without a significant food diversification due to land scarcity and degradation (Baseline survey, needs assessment, direct relationship with the community). This is due to unsustainable land use practices, land scarcity, insufficient non-farm employment and high population density. The landslide and erosion used to wash out the arable soil, and soil become degradable due to the loss of fertility through erosion. Insufficiency of indigenous, agroforestry and fruits trees block the interactions that can create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land use systems. Knowledge, Careful selection of species and good management of trees and crops (especially drought tolerant crops) are needed to optimize the production and positive effects within the targeted zone and minimize negative competitive effects. 

Absence of knowledge in climate change adaptation and mitigations practices is observed in a targeted zone. Insufficient knowledge and materials for   energy saving cooking stoves to diminish woods used in cooking as a big number of households do not have forests for firewood and it is difficult for them to have firewood (Baseline Survey).The targeted zone is significantly impacted by the water crisis due to factors such as poor management of water resources, the use of gravity system for Nyungwe water supply, population density, and climate change (landslides and more floods during the rainy season). In targeted zone, there are few natural resources and the economy is based mostly on subsistence agriculture by local farmers using simple tools and selling their production on small local markets especially organized during early evening which implies the need of this project.