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Across equatorial and east Africa, climate change is affecting the frequency, intensity
and variability of regional climate patterns.1 Changes in rainfall patterns, temperatures
and storm intensity are having significant effects on national economies, regional
infrastructure, land use and local livelihoods. These changes are forcing national and
local governments to adjust and adapt how they plan, prepare and implement day to
day operations today and larger visions for the future. The ability of governmental
policies and programs to address challenges from climate change will ultimately
determine how economies grow and how social welfare and the environment are
preserved and protected.
In Rwanda, climate change impacts are forcing the government to integrate adaptation
measures to ensure that its environment, its economy, and, most importantly, its
people are able to withstand the negative effects of floods, storms and droughts.
Within the last two decades, and even more so in recent years, Rwanda has included
climate change adaptation elements into some land use policies, regulations, programs
and national growth strategies, although these elements are often weak and lack
substantive direction or mandate for land use planners and managers. Additionally,
since the implementation of those policies is, in many cases, too recent to determine
how effective they are at reducing risks and vulnerabilities to climate change, there
still exist opportunities for Rwanda to learn from the performance of matured policies,
strengthen current adaptation approaches, adopt best practices from regional examples
sharing similar experiences, and better integrate climate change adaptation
interventions across governmental action.
Climate change impacts in Rwanda are amplified by a fast growing population under
an increasing density distribution, with a large portion (45%) of the population living
below the poverty line and increasing competition for dwindling natural resources.
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These challenges have led to unsustainable and unhealthy land use practices,
including: settlements on steep slopes and in floodplains, deforestation, overcrowding
in urban areas, and poor waste management, to name a few.3 With projections in the
near future pointing toward increases in population, higher temperatures and more
variable rainfall patterns, climate change impacts may be dramatically more intense
in the near future and under increasing pressure from unsustainable land use. Rwanda
has an opportunity now to incorporate sustainability and climate change adaptation
measures into land use and tenure policies to accommodate larger future generations
and reduce climate change risks through mitigation efforts implemented today.
Climate change policy is still relatively young in Rwanda, having only been triggered
from staggering research findings in 2009.4
Since then, Rwanda has moved to
integrate climate change adaptation into policies, programs and land use planning processes. Previously, many indirect adaptation efforts were already embedded within
existing programs that were not explicitly designed for climate change, even if they
do have risk mitigation implications. Strengthening existing programs and adopting
addtional direct adaptation policies will be key to ensuring Rwanda’s adaptive
capacity in the shadow of increasing climate change risks.
This policy brief will: examine key impacts of climate change in Rwanda, assess the
performance and implementation of climate change adaptation measures in land use
policy frameworks and suggest key recommendations that could strengthen Rwanda’s
land use policies to better integrate climate change adaptation measures.
