About CDRRO
Born in Rwanda. Built for the communities climate change tests hardest.
The Climate and Disasters Risk Reduction Organization (CDRRO) is a not-for-profit working where environmental degradation meets daily life — helping rural communities adapt, prepare, and flourish.
Our mission · Our vision
Our mission
To reduce the risks of climate-change-induced disasters and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities — through proactive measures, genuine partnership, and sustainable development practice.
Our vision
A Rwanda — and a world — where people and ecosystems don't merely survive environmental challenges, but thrive through them.
Why we exist
Rwanda's hills are beautiful — and vulnerable.
Soil erosion strips fertile land from steep slopes. Deforestation removes the roots that hold hillsides together. Unpredictable rains ruin one season with drought and the next with floods. For smallholder farming families, each shock cuts deeper than the last.
CDRRO was founded on a conviction: these risks are reducible. With the right trees in the right soil, rain becomes an asset instead of a hazard. With early awareness and household preparedness, a storm is an event — not a catastrophe. With clean, efficient stoves, families spend less on fuel and forests keep standing.
We began where the need is concrete: Ruhango District, in Rwanda's Southern Province, working alongside district authorities, the Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA), and community organizations. Our approach aligns with Rwanda's national environmental policy and advances the Sustainable Development Goals — particularly SDG 13 (Climate Action) and SDG 15 (Life on Land).
See how this becomes actionWhat guides us
Four values, applied in the field — not framed on a wall.
Community first
Local knowledge leads. Every project is co-designed with the farmers, women, youth, and leaders who will live with its results.
Practical over abstract
We measure success in trees planted, stoves lit, tanks filled, and households prepared — not in reports on a shelf.
Evidence & honesty
Participatory mapping, field surveys, and open monitoring keep us accountable to communities and partners alike.
Partnership
District authorities, REMA, CBOs, and development partners each hold a piece of the answer. We bring them together.
How we're organized
Lean structure, clear accountability.
CDRRO keeps its structure light so resources reach the field — with governance strong enough to satisfy the partners and donors who trust us.
Executive leadership
Sets strategic direction, oversees day-to-day operations, and carries responsibility for delivering the mission.
Board oversight
Governance drawn from diverse backgrounds keeps CDRRO accountable, transparent, and responsive to the communities we serve.
Programme teams
Field-facing teams organized around our focus areas — preparedness, community engagement, restoration, training, and advocacy.
Support functions
Finance & administration, communications, and volunteer coordination keep programmes running and resources accounted for.
Meet the people carrying this mission forward.
Meet the teamStand with communities on the front line.
Whether you fund a stove, plant a tree, or bring your expertise — you become part of a district's resilience story.