$Unique_ID{bob00481} $Pretitle{} $Title{Rwanda Chapter 3B. Drainage} $Subtitle{} $Author{The Director Foreign Area Studies} $Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army} $Subject{lake areas kigali health miles small kivu limited national percent see pictures see figures } $Date{1990} $Log{See Anti-Erosion Ditches*0048101.scf See Public Health Meeting*0048102.scf } Title: Rwanda Book: Area Handbook for Rwanda Author: The Director Foreign Area Studies Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army Date: 1990 Chapter 3B. Drainage [See Anti-Erosion Ditches: Courtesy Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC.] The areas east of the main mountain range, sometimes called the Kagera Basin, drain eventually into the Nile River system. The central uplands and the eastern lakes and swamps are drained by the Nyabarongo River and its main tributaries: the Lukarara, Mwogo, Biruruma, Mukungwa, Base, Nyabugogo, and Akanyaru Rivers. The generalized direction of flow is eastward. Collected runoff moves northward via the Kagera River, which forms much of the eastern boundary, eventually flowing into Lake Victoria. In these central highlands, east of the Congo-Nile Crest, erosion is a serious problem, although the average slopes are less steep than those of the west. This is an area of small farms and grazing lands spread over rounded hills between eroded gullies. The various plateaus descend eastward in successive tiers, ending abruptly in central and eastern Rwanda in a series of escarpments. Below, at approximately 3,000 to 5,000 feet above sea level, is an irregular basin containing minor elongated valleys, lakes, and swamplands. This basin, less densely populated than the plateaus that border it on three sides, extends from the capital city of Kigali to Lake Rugwero on the southeastern border. Similar swamps and relatively flat lands less desirable for human habitation than the central highlands, extend over hundreds of square miles in eastern and southeastern border areas. The Lake Kivu region west of the mountains is part of the large Congo drainage basin. The western slopes of the Congo-Nile Divide form a narrow, steep belt of rugged hills and ravines between the mountain crests and the lake, sharply eroded by runoff waters moving swiftly into Lake Kivu or the Ruzizi River Valley. Kivu, with a 4,700-foot altitude, drains southward into Lake Tanganyika via the Ruzizi, a swift river that descends 2,300 feet in less than 75 miles. The upper reaches of most rivers in the mountains of the Congo-Nile Ridge tend to be steep. They become torrents during the rainy season and may be completely dry at other times. Vegetation and Soils Most of the surviving forests, probably covering less than 3 percent of the nation's land, are at the top of the Congo-Nile Ridge, on the volcanic mountains of the northwest, or on Wahu Island in Lake Kivu. Only small vestiges of the ancient forests remain in other areas, although there are some scattered savanna woodlands in the eastern provinces. The high-altitude forests, now controlled by law, tend to be mixed forests in inaccessible areas, and exploitation is difficult. Although used locally for both fuel and construction, none of the forests are very important to the national economy. Shrubs and trees, such as eucalyptus, grow among the farms of the central highlands. Many of these were planted during the past 20 years as part of an erosion control program. Thus, although the original forests have long since been removed from the heavily populated plateaus, the landscape is not entirely treeless. Depending upon altitude, natural tree cover once included a wide variety of temperate and tropical zone trees, shrubs and bushes, both evergreen and deciduous. Most soils contain many of the metal compounds found in laterite soils, but are generally lighter, more fertile, more workable, and less troublesome to agriculturalists than the true laterites. In some areas, especially in the northwest, soils are of volcanic origin and are quite fertile. Approximately 30 percent of the land is suitable for farming, and another 30 percent for grazing (see ch. 9, Agriculture). Most of the farming and grazing areas were derived from the forests that covered the area until they were removed by Hutu farmers during the last 500 years. Except where seriously eroded or leached by heavy farming, humus content and fertility are good, comparing favorably with the soils of many African areas. Soil quality and productivity are usually excellent in the alluvial valleys and the volcanic soils in the northwestern provinces of Gisenyi and Ruhengeri. Tillable soils throughout the country are heavily cropped, producing a large variety of cereals, legumes, grasses, tubers, shrubs, and trees. Intensive food crop production, often on steep slopes, has led to serious soil erosion. Pastureland has been overgrazed in many areas. Erosion control measures, such as the planting of hedges in appropriate areas to control runoff, were established by the Belgians during the Trusteeship period. Population pressure on the better lands is so intense that soil damage, through leaching, erosion, and intensive farming without adequate fertilizing continues to be a serious problem. Conservation Areas and Wildlife Ruhengeri and Gisenyi Provinces in the northwest are areas of dramatic scenery and rich lava soils, producing both food and commercial crops. Karisimbi, the volcanic peak north of Lake Kivu, rises to 14,870 feet above sea level, almost 2 miles above the average elevation of the Rwanda plateaus. Although located within 100 miles of the Equator, the mountain is snowcapped. Above 7,800 feet, a near-permanent mist prevails, fostering a specialized forest that thrives on such conditions. Fast-growing tropical and semitropical forests laced with old buffalo and elephant trails, cover the slopes of the middle elevations. A game preserve and conservation region, the Parc National des Volcans (National Park of the Volcanoes), has been established here in order to preserve special plant and animal species, including the few remaining gorillas. The preserve is adjacent to the border and is contiguous to Albert National Park, maintained on the west side of this border by Congo (Kinshasa). Southwest, and far below the rain forests, lies Lake Kivu, at approximately 4,700 feet in altitude. The Gisenyi area on the northeastern edge of the lake has been described in Government publications as one of the most beautiful shorelines in the world, combining pleasant beaches, islands, and luxuriant vegetation against a background of high mountains. It attracts a small number of tourists in spite of its distance from main travel routes. In the northeast, adjacent to the Tanzania border, Kagera National Park, one of Africa's major game preserves, encloses more than 1,000 square miles-one-tenth of the nation's entire land area. Most of the well-known African animal species are native to Rwanda. Lion, elephant, buffalo, zebra, various kinds of gazelles and related grazing and browsing species, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, warthog, gorilla, and other animals are found in Rwanda. Many thrive especially well in the savannas, swamps and meadowlands of Kagera National Park. There are also pythons, cobras, and other snakes, as well as crocodiles. A variety of fishes, including local species of pike and perch, are found in the various waters except Lake Kivu, where methane-producing organisms discourage fish life. Many types of tropic and temperate zone aquatic and land birds are found in Rwanda. Minerals Known mineral resources include columbo-tantalite, beryllium ore, amblygonite (phosphate of lithium), cassiterite (tin ore), wolframite (tungsten ore), and small quantities of gold and the rare earths (uranium ores). Large quantities of methane are dissolved in the waters of Lake Kivu. Certain lava beds in the west and northwest contain potassium compounds that can be used for fertilizers. None of the metallic ores has proved to be rich enough to have a major effect on the economy (see Industry, ch. 9). The most heavily mineralized area extends from the Congo-Nile Crest eastward across the plateaus to the capital at Kigali. Small amounts of various ores have been recorded in most areas except the northeast. Transportation and Communications The road network is extensive, but only a few miles have been hard-surfaced. Many routes are impassable during the rainy months. The system was developed by the Belgians, primarily to link the administrative and commercial centers that they had initiated. Unsurfaced dirt roads, typically constructed of laterite, connect the capital at Kigali with all 10 prefectures. Counting local routes and unfinished tracks, the system includes about 3,090 route miles, among the densest networks in Africa. There are few bridges; many river crossings are simple fords, passable only during dry seasons. About 1,360 miles of this network may be considered main roads, maintained by the national Government. The remaining 1,730 miles includes secondary roads, trails and tracks, maintained to some degree by local authorities (see Domestic Trade, ch. 8). The road northeastward from Kigali to the border settlement of Kagitumba is the most important route for external trade, providing a road connection with the railhead at Kampala, Uganda, some 235 miles from Kagitumba and 350 miles from central Rwanda. This railhead is an important connection with outside trade centers, including the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa, about 800 miles southeast of Kampala. Another important road route extends from Kigali to the southern border and on through Burundi to Bujumbura, trade center and port on Lake Tanganyika, a water route to towns and road connections farther south. A second road route to Bujumbura extends southward through the Great Rift Valley from Lake Kivu. There are no railroads within the country, and no foreign railroads penetrate to the borders. Thus, although their carrying capacity is limited, roads are almost the only means of moving the nation's limited tonnages of internal and external trade. None of the rivers is navigable for any significant distance. Local water freight movement is limited to Lake Kivu and to short stretches of other lakes and rivers that have only negligible importance. Lake steamers from Congo (Kinshasa) serve the settlements of Kibuye, Cyangugu, and Gisenyi. In 1968 these lakeside settlements had only very small docks and warehouse facilities. By early 1969 the most important airfield, at Kigali, was adequate to permit landing and limited servicing of four-engine jet aircraft. There were smaller airfields of limited capability at Bugarama, Butare, Cyangugu, Gabiro (near Kagera National Park), Gako, Gisenyi, Kagitumba, Nemba, Nyabisindu, and Ruhengeri. A Government Post Office, under the Ministry of Postal Services, Telecommunications and Transport, distributes mail twice a week. Some additional services are provided to prefecture officials and burgomasters in the communes. In 1967 a telephone system serving 300 subscribers in Kigali was replaced by a system for 600, which could be expanded to 2,000. Five other settlements have limited telephone services - Butare, Cyangugu, Gisenyi, Gitarama, and Nyabisindu (Nyanza). Small radio transmitters and receivers provide telephone connections with the administrative center of each prefecture. A 1-kilowatt transmitter connects Kigali with Bujumbura, and a 5-kilowatt unit reaches Nairobi, Kenya, and Brussels, Belgium. With assistance from the Netherlands, a telecommunications systems connecting Kigali with Kampala, Uganda, was expected to become operational during 1969. A public radio transmitter of 50-kilowatts power broadcasts from Kigali, distributing instruction, news, and entertainment (see Public Information, ch. 7). Living Patterns and Conditions The pattern of life is overwhelmingly rural, 95 percent of the population being engaged in agriculture. Despite the high density of the population, estimated at 360 per square mile in 1969, there is a very limited degree of urbanization. The few existing villages are products of European rule that were established primarily as administrative centers. In recent years there has been a moderate degree of migration to the few existing towns, which are in fact enlarged settlements. Kigali, the capital and the only center with a population greater than 5,000, has grown from 4,800 in 1959 to an estimated 15,000 in 1968. In the rural areas the traditional ways of life remain the dominant pattern. Each family occupies a self-contained home-stead on its own plot of land. Family units, spread over the summits and slopes of the hills, consist of a small beehive-shaped hut, an inzu, and a courtyard within a circular enclosure. Hut size is reduced to the minimum since most activities, including cooking, are carried on in the open air. The dwellings of wealthy landowners are generally larger, the size depending on the wealth and status of the owner, and may include several courtyards. Even a poor family may farm several small plots of land, preferably at different altitudes or on different types of slope or soil, to reduce the risk of crop failure. The hut itself may be burned after several years of use, when its grass roof has rotted and vermin have infested the entire structure. The soil of the hut area, enriched by the ashes, is soon producing crops while a new hut is built elsewhere. Surrounding the enclosed compound is the family banana plantation, the produce of which is used in the making of beer, a drink important in social functions. Around the banana plantation are several plots used for growing beans, sorghum, corn, and other crops. A family may also work other small pieces of land, separate from the compound, on the lower slopes and in the valleys. The rhythm of rural life follows the agricultural calendar. Since storage is limited and difficult, it is necessary that one or several food crops be maturing throughout the year. September, which marks the end of the principal dry season, is a time of tilling the soil in preparation for planting. Corn, beans, peas, and millet are generally planted during October and early November in order to gain the maximum benefit from the principal rainy season. Beans and peas are ready for harvest in January, and then sorghum is planted. The principal root crops, cassava (manioc), and sweet potatoes, are planted in the lowlands during February and on the hills in March. The cassava matures beginning in May, whereas corn and sorghum, along with the second bean crop, are ready for harvest during June and July (see Agriculture, ch. 9). Each crop is harvested with great selectivity. Sweet potatoes large enough to eat are extracted from the earth without disturbing the rest of the plant. Green vegetables and beans are individually collected. By planting a variety of crops the subsistence farmer seeks to insure against disastrous losses resulting from drought, insects, blight, and roving warthogs or antelope. Settlement is concentrated on the crests and slopes of the hills; the lower lands have been avoided because of higher temperatures and the health hazards posed by the tsetse fly. The preference for living on the upper slopes is deeply ingrained, and the pattern prevails even though the family water supply must be carried up from the valleys. The heaviest concentrations of population are found in the areas where the soil is most fertile, the central plateau regions of Butare (Astrida) and Ruhengeri. Because of the high population density, reaching a high of 678 per square mile in Ruhengeri Prefecture in 1966, all available land is used for either crops or pasture. Terracing is employed on the hillsides. The amount of arable land available is only 3 1/4 acres per family. Considering the generally poor soil, absence of fertilizer, and low level of technology, this amount is insufficient. There are also about 3 1/4 acres of pastureland per head of cattle, but these animals are kept primarily for prestige rather than for food (see Agriculture, ch. 9). With the implementation in 1952 of the Ten-Year Development Plan for the Economic and Social Development of Ruanda-Urundi, the Belgian Administration carried out a program of tsetse-fly and mosquito eradication in the lowlands and initiated the resettlement of some of the population from the overcrowded regions. It proved difficult, however, to persuade residents of the densely populated uplands to move to these new developments in the southeast and in the Ruzizi Valley of the southwest. The per capita annual income is one of the lowest in Africa, $40 in 1961. The average Rwandan buys few consumer goods, and the industrial sector is very limited. The Government considers the improvement of living conditions to be of first priority and an important part of the current Five-Year Plan (1967-1972). Its goals include general economic progress, the increased production of food crops, and more adequate means of distribution (see Agriculture, ch. 9; Economic and Financial Systems, ch. 8). Nutrition and Health [See Public Health Meeting: Courtesy Embassy of Rwanda, Washington DC.] The diet varies with the agricultural season, although some crops, such as cassava, sweet potatoes, and bananas, are usually available all year. Seasonal foods such as corn, peas, beans, and millet are commonly used. Foods of vegetable origin make up most of the meals. Despite the abundance of cattle, meat consumption is minimal. An investigation of the eating habits of a representative cross-section of Rwandans revealed that 56 percent of the meals included sweet potatoes and 50 percent included beans. Few people eat meat more than once or twice a month, and many even less frequently since for most, it is a luxury they cannot afford. To some, particularly to Tutsi women, meat is taboo. Also, for reasons of tradition, when meat is eaten it is always from a cow, never from a bull or ox. Fish is eaten by only a small portion of the population and is almost unknown in the upland areas. The average diet is inadequate and unbalanced nutritionally, running heavily to starch and deficient in fats and proteins. Many of the health problems are directly related to deficiencies in diet. Even though the prevalent nutritional diseases are not usually fatal, they are debilitating, breaking down resistance to a long and varied list of other diseases that affect much of the population, especially the children. Kwashiorkor, a serious form of malnutrition caused by a shortage of protein, is particularly prevalent and damaging among young children. It is frequently caused by the sudden changeover from a protein to a predominantly carbohydrate diet when the child is weaned. It results in the death of many children and a high rate of incidence of liver disorders among older people who have survived it. A government study states that protein and related deficiency conditions account for 11 percent of hospital deaths. In addition, the physical weaknesses brought about by kwashiorkor play an important role in deaths attributed to pneumonia, tuberculosis, whooping cough, and some types of dysentery. The investigation report concludes that malnutrition is the greatest single health problem. Of the infectious diseases, those presenting the most serious problems are bronchial and lobar pneumonia. Together these are cited as accounting for 25 percent of all hospital deaths. Intestinal illnesses constitute another major health problem, and 11 percent of recorded hospital deaths are attributed to various types of dysentery. In 1968 there were 20,600 cases of whooping cough reported, 22,600 cases of measles, and an estimated 50,000 cases of tuberculosis. An epidemic of infectious hepatitis in 1965 was attributed to contaminated drinking water. Poor sanitation and water pollution also contribute to the spread of bacillic and amoebic dysentery and intestinal parasites. By 1968 Government planners were placing heavy emphasis on preventive health measures, such as the improvement of nutrition levels and sanitation, as well as the extension of facilities for medical treatment. Implementation of the plan, however, has been limited by lack of sufficient financing and adequately trained personnel. Both preventive health programs and medical treatment services are included under the responsibilities of the Ministry of Public Health. The Government considers the improvement of health conditions a matter of great importance and has directed a sizable portion of the national budget to health services. The funds allocated to the Ministry of Public Health amounted to about 7 percent of the annual national budget between 1966-68 (see Economic and Financial Systems, ch. 8). In 1968 the ratio of medical doctors was 1 to each 95,000 inhabitants although there was a medical assistant, having less training than a doctor, for every 70,000 inhabitants. There were 20 hospitals, 82 dispensaries, 14 maternity wards, 1 sanatorium and 1 leprosarium. Of the hospitals, 11 were under direct Government administration, 7 were administered by missionary societies, and 2 by the private mining companies. Missionary organizations sponsored 19 dispensaries, and the Government administered 68. Medical personnel, including nurses, nurses' aides and accredited midwives, totaled 538. Under the Belgian technical assistance program an agreement was signed in October 1967 by which Belgium agreed to place 15 doctors at the disposal of Rwanda and to provide medicines and medical equipment. The agreement also included plans for Belgium to build a new hospital center in Kigali, in 1968, which was to include a 60-bed clinic and an 80-bed hospitalization unit, at an estimated cost of RF72 million (1 Rwandan franc equals approximately U.S.$0.01). Another hospital was projected for Ruhengeri, to be built with the aid of French funds, and the United States agreed to assist with the building of a water purification plant in Kigali.