Attachments
Introduction
This climate change profile is designed to help integrate climate actions into development activities. It complements the publication ‘Climate-smart = Future-Proof! – Guidelines for Integrating climate-smart actions into development policies and activities’ and provides answers to some of the questions that are raised in the step-by-step approach in these guidelines.
The current and expected effects of climate change differ locally, nationally and regionally. The impacts of climate change effects on livelihoods, food and water security, ecosystems, infrastructure etc. differ per country and region as well as community and individual, with gender a particularly important vulnerability factor. This profile aims to give insight in the climate change effects and impacts in Rwanda, with particular attention for food security and water. It also sheds light on the policies, priorities and commitments of the government in responding to climate change and important climate-relevant activities that are being implemented, including activities being internationally financed.
Summary
Rwanda is a landlocked country with a moderate climate and relatively high rainfall. Climate change is expected to result in increased temperatures, intensified rainfall, and prolonged dry seasons. This presents different challenges for different regions: the mountainous west of the country will be subject to erosion, parts of the central north and south will experience severe floods, and the east and southeast will suffer from droughts and desertification. In terms of food security, the four most vulnerable regions (out of twelve) are the Eastern Agro-Pastoral Zone, the Eastern Semi-Arid Agro-Pastoral Zone, the Bugesera Cassava Zone in the south, and parts of the Eastern Congo-Nile Highland Subsistence Farming Zone1 (see Map 1). Some climate change effects, such as the lowering level of lakes and water flows and forest degradation, are expected to occur throughout the country2.