Nyamuswaga River

The Nyamuswaga rises in the west of Muyinga Province and flows south to the border with Ngozi Province, then in a generally southwest direction through Ngozi Province.^[1] It is a tributary of the Kinyankuru River.^[2] It joins the Nyakijima River flowing from the west to form the Kinyankuru River.^[3]

The surroundings of Nyamuswaga are a mosaic of agricultural land and natural vegetation.^[4] The area is densely populated, with 442 inhabitants per square kilometer as of 2016.^[5] The average annual temperature in the area is 19 °C (66 °F). The warmest month is September, when the average temperature is 21 °C (70 °F), and the coldest is April, with 17 °C (63 °F).^[6]

Average annual rainfall is 1,149 millimetres (45.2 in). The wettest month is December, with an average of 175 millimetres (6.9 in) of precipitation, and the driest is July, with 1 millimetre (0.039 in) of precipitation.^[7]

Since the colonial era the river's marshes have been developed to combat famine, and the effect on existing flora was not considered. As a result, most of the original vegetation has been greatly reduced or eliminated.^[8] Between 1959 and 1993 the cultivated area in the Nyamuswaga marsh rose steadily from 2,000 to 8,250 hectares (4,900 to 20,400 acres).^[9]

The Nyamuswaga and the Nyarunteke are the most important streams in the Commune of Tangara, Ngozi, where the natural vegetation has largely been cleared.^[10] The rice marshes in the Commune of Gashikanywa, Ngozi Province, on the Nyakijima and Nyamuswaga rivers covered about 500 hectares (1,200 acres) in March 2024. Heavy rains had flooded a small portion of these rice marshes.^[11] In August 2024 a group of senators visited the Nyamuswaga marshes in the Commune of Gashoho, Muyinga Province. The marshes were being developed for cultivation of sorghum to be used in producing sugar and fuel.^[12]