Nyabihu is a district (''akarere'') in

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

. Its

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

is Mukamira. Nyabihu district is divided into 12

sectors Sector may refer to: Places * Sector, West Virginia, U.S. Geometry * Circular sector, the portion of a disc enclosed by two radii and a circular arc * Hyperbolic sector, a region enclosed by two radii and a hyperbolic arc * Spherical sector, a p ...

(''imirenge''): Bigogwe, Jenda, Jomba, Kabatwa, Karago, Kintobo, Mukamira, Muringa, Rambura, Rugera, Rurembo and Shyira.These sectors are themselves separated in 73 cells and 474 villages also called “imidugudu".

Geography

The

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

It borders at the South with

Ngororero District Ngororero District is a district (''akarere'') in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is the town of Ngororero. Location The district is one of the five districts that comprise Rwanda's Western Province. It is bordered by Nyabihu District to ...

, at the West with the

Rubavu District Rubavu District is one of the seven districts of the country district (''akarere'') in Western Province, Rwanda. Its capital is Gisenyi, It has a large beach resort and border city. It has a total surface area of 388.3 Km2. Geography The distri ...

, at the East with the

Gakenke District Gakenke district is one among thirty district made of Rwanda . It's locate in Northern Province of this country (Rwanda). Its capital is Gakenke town. The district has started implementing a building plan with demarcation for land usage and publ ...

and at the North with the

Musanze District Musanze is a district in the Northern Province of Rwanda. Its capital city is Ruhengeri. Geography and tourism Musanze is Rwanda's most mountainous district, containing the largest part of the Volcanoes National Park, and its head office at Ki ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. Despite heavy precipitations, the area really suffers from the lack of water sources given a poor hydrographical network. The flow of water comes from ephemeral streams of torrential nature, such as the Susa and its tributary

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

s. The very strong

slope In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...

upstream explains the fact that they are torrential. The

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

sloping flanks have an average slope of more than 60%, over 2 200 m. When it rains, the

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

is raced down the flanks at high speed towards the

piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, hauling everything in its way: animals, men, lava blocks, etc. The water from the numerous torrents racing down the slopes causes a lot of

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognised at ...

(flooding, sanding and sapping of banks). The

bodies are supposedly numerous and the water is abundant, but those bodies are approximately at a depth of 100 m. We suppose that they are located in old depression of the basement (synclines and pockmarks) covered by lava.

Roads

In Nyabihu District

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

s condition varies from very poor to good. About 66.0% of the roads are very poor, 25.3% are poor and 8.2% in fair condition. Only 0.5% of the roads are in good condition. Most of these roads need to be rehabilitated while others require maintenance. The 2013 Development Plan of the District indicates that Nyabibu District has 290 km of roads of which 88% are dirt roads and 12% is paved. The District has access to three paved roads which are

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

- Rubavu, Mukamira – Muhanga – Huye – Burundi or Huye- Rusizi, Mukamira – Ngororero – Muhanga – karongi. It has also indicative feeder roads that are regularly in poor condition due to the high

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...

s and heavy regular rainfall. However, in some sectors, people walk more than 30 minutes to access the nearest road network. The poor quality and lack of roads connecting the supply area and the collection center is a major concern. During the rainy season, some of these roads become almost impracticable, while during

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The te ...

, there is too much dust that affects

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. Immune factors and immune ...

quality. In addition, the prices offered to

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

s and ranchers by intermediate traders are insignificant and therefore decrease their income.

Demography

In 2012, the

Census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

on Population and Housing, the

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of Nyabihu district is estimated at 295,580 inhabitants with 1% population growth, which is the lowest nationally. Nevertheless, the Nyabihu District has a very high density estimated at 558 inhabitants per square km according to the same source. Concerning the total

fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime if: # she were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through her lifetime # she were t ...

, Nyabihu district has an average rate of 4.9 which is high than the national average which is 4.6. The average age at the first

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

is 21.5 years for girls against 23 years for boys. 62.5% of households have

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

ren less than 7 years and 53.2% of

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

s are headed by

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

. This situation involves significant investments in education sector and specific programs to support for women.

Agriculture

In this

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...

is heavily dependent on

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

, where the majority of

s are smallholders. Approximately 74%, or 105,672 people in 143 000 of the

of the

, derive their

income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. For ...

from the exploitation of the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support life. Some scientific definitions distinguish ''dirt'' from ''soil'' by restricting the former te ...

. However, there is a

scarcity In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...

of land because; according EICV3, 50% of the

has an area less than 0.3ha. This lack of land pushes

s to work an average of 5 hours a day instead of at least 8 hours. This shows that there is

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

among economically active people, especially among the

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

Agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

food products Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and ornamental crops are grown extensively. For food, there are Irish

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es,

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

s, wheat and

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

and

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s as well. Irish

es,

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and beans are cultivated by 76.6% of

s on average is 51,000 households. Irish

es are most cultivated with 83.7% followed by

(74.3%) and beans (71.9%). Maize production represents 47.3% of the

agricultural production Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

in the district against 8.9%

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

During the warm period,

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

is needed. The District's

should not only rely on

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

but also on other services. In recent years, the Government of

has implemented several ambitious programmes to increase the

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

of the

agriculture sector The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in d ...

. The motivation behind these actions is reflected in the

Ministry of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

's vision: The current

Local Economic Development Local Economic Development (LED) is an approach to economic development, of note in the developing world that, as its name implies, places importance on activities in and by cities, districts and regions. Local economic development combines econ ...

(LED) activities are based on developing agriculture: Potato_plants

– Irish

Potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es produced in Kabatwa, Jenda, Mukamira, Bigogwe, Rambura (3 cells), Karago (4 cells), Mulinga (2 cells), and Kintobo (3 cells) Corn_blooming

–

Maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

in Rugera, Shyira, Mulinga, Jomba, Rurembo, Bigogwe, Mukamira, Karago, Kintobo, Rambura and Jenda –

Vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s: carrot in Jenda, Mukamira, Bigogwe and Karago: Cabadge in Jenda, Mukamira, Bigogwe and Rugera sectors –

Fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s: plum (Prunier du Japon) in Rambura, Mulinga, Bigigwe, Kabatwa, Karago, Jenda and Kintobo sectors –

Coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

: RugeraShyira, Jomba and Rurembo – Patchuli in Rugera and Shyira –

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

in Rugera and Shyira –

Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

: Mukamira, Karago, Mulinga, Rambura, Jomba and Jenda. –

Wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

: Jmoba, Mulinga, Rurembo, Kintobo and Karago. –

Pyrethrum ''Pyrethrum'' was a genus of several Old World plants now classified as ''Chrysanthemum'' or ''Tanacetum'' which are cultivated as ornamentals for their showy flower heads. Pyrethrum continues to be used as a common name for plants formerly inclu ...

: Kabatwa, Jenda, Bigogwe and Mukamira. The District has a great

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

potential, especially in the cultivation of

es, corn and

as well as

s of all kinds. However, there is no processing plant for these crops. The district wants to acquire a processing unit for potatoes as well as honey and

collection centers. Crop storage silos are also needed for

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

and

price stability Price stability is a goal of monetary and fiscal policy aiming to support sustainable rates of economic activity. Policy is set to maintain a very low rate of inflation or deflation. For example, the European Central Bank (ECB) describes price s ...

. The table below some crops like maize, Irish potatoes, ordinary beans, banana, climbing beans emerge as of high importance in Nyabihu District as far as crop share of harvested area in 2013 season is concerned.

Development

Electrical energy availability and reliability in the Shyira Sector has been improved by the installation of the Rubagabaga 445 kW hydropower plant. This project won the African Power, Energy and Water Industry Awards in 2019 for the top Small Scale Sustainable Energy Project (Under 5MW).

References

*
Inzego.doc
— Province, District and Sector information from ''MINALOC'', the Rwanda ministry of local government. {{coord, 1, 39, S, 29, 30, E, display=title, region:RW_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki Districts of Rwanda