Disaster Risk Reduction - support farmers in the Akagera Basin, East Africa

Hello there!

From march 2017 to march 2018 I will do a voluntary service, in order to support a project in the field of disaster risk reduction of the environmental organisation ARCOS in Rwanda with my proficiencies as a geographer.

The Albertine Rift Conservation Society (ARCOS) has dedicated itself to the environmental education and protection in East Africa
With the project „Promoting awareness and supporting disaster risk reduction through the use of geospatial tools to map risk areas in Akagera River basin“ they fight the negative impacts of the global environmental change in Rwanda.

The study area is situated in the Akagera Basin, one of the live giving water resources of the river Nile. Triggered by climate change the vulnerable region faces environmental risks like

and the indigenous population suffers from famine periods.

There already is the "National Risk Atlas", which tries to deal with these challenges, but the resolution is not fine enough to pinpoint risk at local level.

For that reason remote sensing and geographic information systems shall support the risk analysis of the local farmers and improve the awareness for disaster risk reduction, leading to more food security and a strengthened livelihood.
The overall objective is to map risk areas at a high resolution, to cope with the vulnerability against climate change induced disasters. The results will be presented to the political decision makers in order to deduce essentiell prevention measures and thus enhance the resilience of the local population.

The voluntary service is encouraged by the non-profit organisation artefact gGmbh.

Murakoze cyane!
(Many thanks!)

About me:

I studied geography at the University of Bonn and have a strong commitment to nature. My interests lie in the interactions between environment and society and I get excited about topics like climate change and (global) environmental risks. For that reason I focused my studies on the field of disaster risk management and picture myself to later on work in the area of international humanitarian assistance.
I already gained first work experience during a three month internship at the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, where I worked in the division for geoinformation. Afterwards I did a volunteer service at the Federal Agency for Technical Relief for half a year. There I further improved my skills of geographic informations systems and supported public safety authorities with logistic and locational problem solutions.