By Charles Ndushabandi;
The establishment of Rwanda Green Fund (FONERWA) in 2012, with the aim of mobilizing domestic and international climate change finance, and securing sustainable financing to support projects towards the implementation of the green growth strategy contributed to creation of 160,000 green jobs.
Climate change is a danger facing humanity and the planet! The country’s strategy to combat its effects has come with opportunities where more than 40 projects have been established and the employment that has come with it, is transforming the livelihoods in communities. Jobs have been created in the fields of ecosystem rehabilitation, sustainable land management, integrated water resource management, sustainable mining and quarrying, sustainable forest management, and also promotion and protection of biodiversity among others.
According to FONERWA, some of the projects like Electrifying Rwanda’s Moto Taxis, Nyandungu Urban Wetland Eco-Tourism Park, and others have created thousands of jobs. Rulindo river conservation project of 2016 creating 5,000 ‘green jobs’ while the Green Gicumbi project that has created over 20,000 green jobs as well and increased yields.
Emmanuel Nzabonimpa, the Mayor of Gicumbi district says that 21,000 jobs have been created in nine sectors where the Green Gicumbi project has been implemented since 2019.
“Creation of these jobs led to increased households incomes which in return has improved the welfare of our people. Currently, the number of people who can afford to pay for the medical insurance scheme has increased.” He said.
Gicumbi District is ranked number four in the whole country in covering medical insurance. This can be attributed at a big percentage to the green jobs created by Green Gicumbi under FONERWA,” says Nzabonimpa.
He adds that the people are employed in construction of resilient houses for the less privileged and those who live in high-risk zones, in farming, afforestation, and coppicing, construction water reservoirs among others. “Giving jobs to people led to reduction of illicit drugs form across the border and other vices that had become rampant including robbery,” he said.
Also, several green jobs have been created by several paper packaging industries and plastic waste recycling companies across the country, for example, Eco- Plastic Company in Nyarugenge employs about 60 permanent employees and over 45 casual workers with more than 10 firms supplying raw materials across the country. All these employ many others from waste collection to supply. Electromax Industry in Huye District employs more than 50 workers and others who are casual workers. For Agro-Plast that recycles plastics in Kicukiro District with an investment of Rwf500 million, has created over 50 permanent green jobs.
Claudine Nsekanabo, a Green Gicumbi project beneficiary and a resident of Rugerero cell, Mukarange sector in Gicumbi district says that since the introduction of terraces which are used as a climate-smart technique for soil erosion control in fodder multiplication plot, there has been increase in crop yields.
“Ever since progressive and radical terraces were introduced, we have seen an increase in food production as we can produce enough to eat and also sell to get income to pay school fees and acquire other necessities,” Nsekanabo said.
The Fund’s purpose is to be an engine of green growth in Rwanda while serving as a touchstone for Africa and the rest of the world. The fund’s strategy is to provide unheralded technical and financial support to the best public and private projects that align with Rwanda’s commitment to a green economy.
Jean Marie Vianney Kagenza, the Team Leader of the Green Gicumbi project says that in the next six years, the project is expected to create 150,000 jobs.
The Government of Rwanda has put the environment and climate change at the center of the country’s policies and plans. Under the country’s Vision 2050, Rwanda has a bold vision to become a carbon-neutral and climate-resilient economy by the middle of the century.
In May 2020, Rwanda was the first African country to submit its revised climate action plan (NDC). In the plan, the country has an ambitious target to reduce 38% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to business as usual, equivalent to an estimated mitigation of up to 4.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e).
The country’s efforts to limit its contribution to climate change and adapt to the consequences of a warming planet over the next decade is estimated at US $11 billion, made up of US$5.7 billion for mitigation and $5.3 billion for adaptation.
