Heavy rains in the Western Province of Rwanda in September 2007 led to floods and landslides which resulted in 15 deaths and caused extensive damage to houses and property, displacing 1,020 households (12 000 people). Almost 1,000 houses were completely destroyed or partially damaged. The water supply system has been interrupted, forcing people to look for alternative sources of water and increasing the risk of use of contaminated water leading to the spread of waterborne diseases. Eighty-eight percent of the population is engaged in agriculture, which is negatively affected by recurrent droughts and erratic rainfall (especially in Western and Eastern provinces), plant and animal diseases, inappropriate farming practices, and inadequate inputs.

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CERF allocates over US$ 400,000 to Rwanda for the UN response to severe flooding in the Western Province

Heavy rains in early September caused flooding in several districts of the Western Province, killing at least 20 people, and destroyed the houses and livelihoods of 4,000 people living in an area deemed unsuitable for cultivation and highly susceptible to land slides. An additional 8,000 people living in surrounding villages are believed to still be at risk. The government, with the support of local partners, was able to provide emergency food rations and non-food items to 4,000 displaced persons temporarily living in a makeshift IPD camp, while undertaking plans to relocate and resettle up to 13,000 people living in the area. The assistance provided was however exhausted after two months and the land resettlement program has been hampered by slow progress. The CERF allocated funds to WFP, UNHCR and FAO in Rwanda to bridge the gap between the short term response undertaken so far and the long term resettlement of the population both directly and indirectly affected by the rains 

Rwandans cultivate crops to recover from floods [Photo: WFP/Cyridion Usengumuremyi]

In order to avoid an increase of acute malnutrition rates, particularly among children under five years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women, the WFP is using a CERF grant to immediately provide food to 4,000 displaced persons at the temporary camp for a three months period until the completion of the land resettlement program. With CERF funding, the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR is providing transportation to the displaced people to resettlement sites along with a basic package of domestic non-food items, such as kitchen sets, jerry cans, blankets, plastic sheeting, hand tools and hygienic pads. FAO is using CERF funds to provide seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural tools to the affected households to enable them to resume farming activities at the new resettlement sites. 

[Last Update: 7 December 2007]

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IRIN article: RWANDA - Heavy floods wreak havok in northwest