By Jean de Dieu Nsabimana
Once adorned with lush green hills, Rukumberi has been decimated, so much so that these hills have are now swathes of brown dirt-covered valleys.
As the population kept increasing in the area, natural trees were cut down, and the deforested land turned into farms both for grazing and cultivation.
Over the years, there has been little or no effort to plant more trees.
This, according to Munyentwari, could explain bouts of droughts that have ravaged the area over the past few years,
“Areas that have forests do not face droughts of similar magnitude,” he said.
In 2016/2017, Rukumberi was hit with the worst drought in recent history, which led to food shortage, according to district officials.
It is not just Rukumberi, as several areas in Eastern Province are grappling with effects of deforestation, mostly Kirehe, Kayonza, Ngoma and Nyagatare.
According to Jean Pierre Mugabo, the Head of Forestry Department Unit at Rwanda Water and Forestry Authority, the entire province needs concerted efforts because they have fewer forests than any other province in the country.
Reforestation in this region has been made a priority, according to Mugabo. In budgetary allocations for the financial years 2018/2019 and 2019/2020, 70 per cent of the national budget on forestry was earmarked for Eastern Province.
