Impacts of Landslide Disasters on Community Livelihoods in Rutsiro District Rwanda
This mixed-methods study of Rutsiro District, Rwanda, reveals that frequent landslides severely undermine community livelihoods through farmland loss and water contamination, exposing critical gaps between high perceived preparedness and the limited efficacy of current mitigation efforts and post-disaster support.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
In the highlands of western Rwanda, the land is steep and the rains are heavy. This combination creates a constant, grinding pressure on the soil. When the ground gives way, it does not just shift; it slides, carrying homes, crops, and water sources with it. These events are known as landslides. They are not merely geological accidents but are often the result of a complex mix of natural forces and human activity. Steep slopes, intense rainfall, and the removal of trees to make way for farming all contribute to the instability. For the people living in these hills, a landslide is not a distant threat but a recurring reality that can wipe out a family's entire livelihood in a single afternoon. Understanding how these events reshape daily life is crucial, because when the land becomes unsafe, the people who depend on it face a crisis that goes far beyond the loss of a few acres of dirt.
A team of researchers from the University of Lay Adventists Kigali set out to measure exactly how these disasters affect the communities in Rutsiro District. They focused on three specific areas known for frequent slides: Manihira, Ruhango, and Rusebeya. To get a true picture of the situation, they did not rely on government reports alone. Instead, they went directly to the source, speaking with 400 households. They asked simple, direct questions about what had happened to their land, their income, and their water. They also sat down with local leaders and disaster experts to understand why some families received help while others received none. Their goal was to move beyond the statistics of damage and understand the human cost of living on unstable ground.
The researchers found that for the people of Rutsiro, a landslide is a total economic reset. The most devastating impact was the loss of farmland. In their survey, 72 percent of the families reported that their crops and soil had been destroyed or buried. For a community where nearly everyone works the land to feed their families, this is a catastrophic blow. It is not just a matter of losing a season's harvest; it is the loss of the primary tool for survival. When the soil is gone, the income is gone, and the ability to buy food or pay for school fees disappears. The study showed that this loss of land directly triggers food insecurity, leaving families with no buffer against hunger.
The damage extends far beyond the fields. The researchers discovered that landslides act as a double blow to community health. As the earth moves, it chokes the water sources that families rely on. The study found that 81 percent of households reported that their water sources had become contaminated or blocked by debris. This creates a dangerous situation where families are struggling to feed themselves while simultaneously facing a shortage of clean water. The researchers noted that this contamination leads to a higher risk of waterborne diseases, compounding the suffering of families who are already trying to recover from the loss of their homes and farms.
Despite the severity of these losses, the community is not passive. The study revealed that 98 percent of the people surveyed felt they were prepared to some degree, and many had taken steps to protect their land. They had planted trees to hold the soil together and built terraces—step-like levels cut into the hillside—to slow down the water. However, the researchers found a troubling gap between these efforts and their actual success. While 63 percent of people had tried planting trees and 18 percent had built terraces, many of these structures were failing. The terraces often lacked proper drainage, causing water to pool and weaken the slope, while the trees were sometimes not maintained. The community was trying to fight the problem, but without technical guidance, their efforts were often insufficient to stop the slides.
Perhaps the most critical finding of the study was the uneven distribution of help after a disaster. While the government had reached out to 97 percent of the community with information, actual assistance was missing for a large number of people. The researchers found that 38 percent of the affected households received absolutely no support after a landslide. The aid that did arrive was mostly in the form of seeds and farming tools, which is helpful for the long term but does not solve the immediate crisis of hunger or the need for cash to repair a home. Only a tiny fraction of families received food or money. This left nearly two-fifths of the affected population to face the aftermath alone, forcing them to sell what little they had left or rely on unsustainable coping mechanisms just to survive the next few weeks.
The study concludes that the current approach to managing these disasters is not enough. The researchers argue that the solution requires a shift from simply reacting to the slides after they happen to building a system that prevents them and supports the people who are hit. They suggest that the government and local communities need to work much closer together. This means teaching farmers how to build terraces that actually drain water properly, ensuring that aid reaches the families who get nothing, and diversifying the local economy so that people do not rely entirely on the land. The people of Rutsiro are resilient and willing to work, but they need the right tools and the right support to turn their steep, dangerous hills into a place where they can live safely and securely.
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