Agroforestry & PES with Tea Company- Rwanda

Topic: Payment for Ecosystem Services

Client: Sorwathe Tea Company, Assopthe Tea Pickers Cooperative, ARCOS Rwanda.

Synopsis: Climate change, deforestation, and poor land and water management are having a negative effect on the Cyohoha-Rukeri watershed in Rwanda, leading to flooding, drought and environmental degradation  in  the  smallholder  farming  areas  uphill  and  the  tea  plantations  downhill.  This  project addresses  these  problems  by  implementing  a  Payment  for  Ecosystem  Services  (PES)  scheme  and establishing a circular economy in the watershed  area, thus bringing a halt to environmental degradation, and resulting in increased food production uphill and increased tea production downhill. Key  elements  are  agroforestry  interventions  uphill  and  improved  water  management  measures downhill  to  reduce  drought  and  flooding  in  the  water  catchment  area,  improve  climate  change resilience and restore ecosystems and the services that these ecosystems provide, benefiting farmers both uphill and downhill.

Our role: DIBcoop developed the Public Private Partnership and is part of the project consortium. Apart from  project  coordination,  monitoring  and  implementation, we are identifying the best way to implement and upscale the PES approach through agroforestry interventions.

Amount raised:  EU € 1,9 Million

Fund type: 50% grant co-funding 

Fund Organization: RVO (Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland)