Kick-off of the Living Lab in Rutsiro, Rwanda, February 2025
Following the Rwanda Restore project kick-off in Kigali in January 2024, and a restoration stakeholder conference held in Kigali from February 19 to 21, 2025, the “living lab for social-ecological restoration in western Rwanda” sub-project of the “A Social-Ecological Systems Approach to Inform Ecosystem Restoration in Rural Africa” DFG Research Unit, Kicked-off the Living Lab in Rutsiro District, western Rwanda on February 25th, 2025. 42 participants attended the workshops from academia (Center of Excellence in Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management of the University of Rwanda and the Rwanda Polytechnic-Kitabi College), various governmental (Rwanda Water Resources Board, Rwanda Forestry Authority, Rwanda Agriculture Board and Rutsiro District), and non-governmental institutions (IMBARAGA Farmer Association, Forest of Hope Association, ARECO Rwandanziza, World Resource Institute -Rwanda, World Vision, Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement, Albertine Rift Conservation Society, One Acre Fund, SNV-Rwanda, Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry-Rwanda) and local communities (Rutsiro Tea Growers Cooperative, farmer cooperatives, community farmer groups, traditional healers, beekeepers, model farmers in horticulture). The workshops aimed to establish a Living Lab Roundtable and define two governance models for the Living Lab, along with its code of conduct and communication strategy. Also, the workshop discusses opportunities and challenges for the current, mid-term and long-term future of restoration in Rutsiro, using a Three Horizons Approach, for restoration strategic planning in Rutsiro.
Organized into small group discussions, participants defined the code of conduct, communication principles and strategy and the three horizons for the restoration in the area
At the end of the workshop, participants visited Living Lab sites in Gihango Sector. During the visit, the research team hiked through the hilly landscape to observe various land uses and assess the potential for restoration interventions. They were accompanied and guided by local field assistants and farmer group members, who provided valuable insights (see photo reference).
A community workshop was organized in two cells of the Gihango District: Teba and Shyembe. The field trip brought together representatives of farmers groups and cooperatives, carpenters, traditional healers, beekeepers, and farm owners of plots where the Living Lab sites sit.
Individual visits were also arranged to meet model farmers who have enhanced their nutrition by integrating food plants such as Chayote, Passion fruit, Avocado, Pineapple and Cucumber into agroforestry systems, particularly within their home gardens, for their consumption or the market. In some cases, farmers combine a variety of fruit plants and legumes within the same plot. The photos below capture the illustration very well.
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- Chayote plant in a homegarden
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- Chayote mixed with passion fruit in agroforestry
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- The model farmer named Jean Harindintwali has intercropped trees with cucumber and passion fruit within a homegarden.
NEXT STEPS!
The study selection and the social network analysis to identify haVE been completed in year 2024. The roundtable has also now been set up, the ongoing process before the end of this year will cover the co-design of field trials, definition of impact areas, delineation and registration of demonstration sites, including the signing of sustainability agreement with farm owners within the sites where the Living Lab will operate. The Living Lab roundtable of stakeholders will also develop the indicators of success…
Author: William Apollinaire