In Gicumbi District, climate change once dictated the rhythm of life unpredictable rains would wash away crops, homes sat on landslide-prone slopes, and fragile forests disappeared year after year. But a quiet revolution is unfolding. At its core is infrastructure not in the form of highways or skyscrapers, but terraces, green villages, and reforested hillsides built by and for the community.
This is the story of how strategic green infrastructure designed with both people and nature in mind is making Gicumbi a national leader in rural resilience.
Nature as Infrastructure
Before the Green Gicumbi Project launched in 2019, hillsides were bare, vulnerable to erosion, and a threat to those farming below. Today, thousands of hectares have been stabilized through radical terracing, agroforestry, and soil conservation techniques that blend tradition with climate science.
“Each terrace is like a dam,” says Jean Marie Vianney Kagenza, the project’s manager. “It slows water, stops erosion, and gives the land a chance to recover.”
The use of high-value, slope-friendly crops such as coffee and tea adds an economic dimension to these green structures turning climate risk into a sustainable asset.
The Power of the Green Village Model
Where conventional infrastructure might relocate people out of harm’s way, the eco-villages in Kaniga and Rubaya go a step further: they offer a template for sustainable rural living.
Each home in the green village is equipped with solar power, rainwater harvesting systems, and ecological sanitation, reducing both environmental footprint and household vulnerability. Importantly, the model is integrated with economic support: residents receive livestock, agricultural training, and access to savings groups laying the foundation for long-term self-reliance.
“This is infrastructure that protects, empowers, and restores dignity,” says Mayor Nzabonimpa Emmanuel. “It’s not just a house it’s a future.”
A Forest That Works for People
Over 2,000 hectares of forest have been restored, not simply fenced off as conservation zones, but designed as multi-use landscapes. Community members grow trees for timber, harvest honey, and gather non-timber forest products all while improving biodiversity and carbon storage.
Cookstoves some 31,000 distributed are another layer of green infrastructure. They reduce pressure on forests, cut indoor air pollution, and improve health outcomes, especially for women and children.
Weather Data as a Rural Utility
In many places, weather forecasting is a luxury. But in Gicumbi, localized weather stations have become critical infrastructure for farmers. They help communities predict rain, plan planting seasons, and avoid losses transforming guesswork into precision.
What used to be seen as “climate unpredictability” is now something farmers can anticipate and respond to because they have the data to make better choices.
Skills That Strengthen the Foundation
Training over 25,000 people in green construction, climate-smart agriculture, and forestry wasn’t an afterthought it was a core part of the infrastructure plan. Skills development is the invisible backbone of the Green Gicumbi transformation.
And it’s paying off. Local cooperatives now design and manage their own environmental projects through the Community Adaptation Fund, ensuring that green infrastructure is locally maintained and expanded.
A Scalable, Sensible Blueprint
As interest in Gicumbi’s success grows both from within Rwanda and across Africa the lessons are clear: climate adaptation doesn’t always require massive technology. Sometimes, the smartest infrastructure is made from trees, terraces, and knowledge.
The challenge now is to scale these models to the 12 remaining sectors in Gicumbi and beyond.
“We’re not building for today’s storm,” says Kagenza. “We’re building for the ones coming 10, 20, 30 years from now.”
