Case Studies / Rwanda Watershed Project (IFAD)
Rwanda Watershed Project (IFAD)
Combining participatory film and development economics to tackle reservoir siltation in South-West Rwanda.
Working for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised agency of the United Nations, Taskscape provided consultancy and participatory film services to a high-value watershed management project in Rwanda to help shift the focus towards community engagement.
Brief
IFAD is a specialised agency of the United Nations based in Rome, focused on financing agricultural development in rural areas of developing countries. Taskscape was contracted by IFAD to work with the in-country project team on a $43 million watershed management project in South-West Rwanda, where reservoir siltation was threatening water capacity. The core challenge was a lack of community uptake; technical and bureaucratic communication was failing to help local communities understand the siltation process and techniques available to slow it.
Activity
- Provided a development economist’s perspective on current interventions
- Conducted participatory workshops and interviews with community stakeholders, including women’s and school groups
- Produced media content played to local communities to reinforce learning, motivation and knowledge exchange
- Deployed participatory media techniques to incorporate project team members into media production crews, enhancing media experience and perspectives
Outcomes
- Shifted the project’s focus from technical and bureaucratic elements towards real-world participation and outcomes
- Community buy-in improved, with enhanced uptake of siltation-reduction techniques
- Experiencing participatory media production with stakeholders on the ground reportedly helped the IFAD team re-envision the project’s working methods
