Chinese-built second highest dam in Rwanda to benefit farming sector: official

KIGALI - The recently completed Muyanza Dam in central Rwanda will benefit farmers and help grow crops for exports, a Rwandan official said on Thursday.

The 26-meter-high Muyanza Dam located in Rulindo District, Northern Province was built by China Geo-Engineering Corporation (CGC) and financed by the World Bank. Land Husbandry, Water Harvesting and Hillside Irrigation Project and the Third Rural Sector Support Project (LWH-RSSP) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources of Rwanda is the employer of the project.

The dam is the second highest in Rwanda and the country's highest and largest earth fill dam in the agriculture sector, Esdras Byiringiro, Acting Project Coordinator of LWH-RSSP, told Xinhua in an interivew.

The dam is expected to retain enough water to irrigate 1,100 hectares of crop fields throughout the year which will benefit all categories of farmers, said Byiringiro, adding that those include commercial, small- and medium-scale farmers.

A number of high-value legumes, grain and horticultural crops will be grown by farmers in the area, of which a significant portion will be for export markets, he said.

The irrigated area to be served by this dam is the largest consolidated hillside area in Rwanda, said the official.

Dams construction, irrigation schemes and marshland rehabilitation conducted by Chinese companies have helped the government of Rwanda to implement irrigation projects across the country, which has led to an increase in agricultural productivity and a significant rise in farmers' incomes and livelihoods, said the coordinator.

Since entering the market of Rwanda in 1999, CGC has completed 13 irrigation and water conservancy projects in the landlocked country.