Author: Lisa Allyn Dale, Director of the MA in Climate and Society program at the Columbia Climate School, Columbia University

After the devastating 1994 genocide, Rwandans returning from the violence established homes and began farming where they could find land. Since then, the Rwandan government has aimed to bring people scattered across rural parts of the country into grouped settlements which they have called “model villages”. These are intended to provide extra support for highly vulnerable residents, such as the homeless and those who are living in “high risk zones” – areas prone to floods, drought and mudslides, and which are likely to be affected by climate change in the future. Rwanda has a population of 14.5 million. An estimated…