Co-occurrence of food and water insecurity in rural Rwanda: Associations with climate variability and socioeconomic factors

Rural households in Rwanda face intensifying risks from climate variability, including erratic rainfall, recurrent droughts, and flooding that threaten food and water security. Households in areas with limited infrastructure and constrained livelihood options are particularly vulnerable due to reduced adaptive capacity. Drawing on longitudinal data from over 60,000 household surveys and remote sensing observations, this study investigated the co-occurrence of household food and water insecurity and evaluated associations between geographical, biophysical, and socioeconomic factors and food insecurity outcomes. Approximately 19.4% of surveyed households—equivalent to about 2.8 million people nationally—experienced simultaneous food and water insecurity, with co-occurrence higher in the control group (21.1%) than in the intervention group (18.3%). A mixed-effects logistic regression revealed strong associations between food insecurity and water insecurity, household size, and income, with water insecurity increasing the odds of food insecurity by approximately 60%. These findings underscore the need for climate resilience programs in Rwanda to explicitly address the interplay between food and water insecurity alongside the mediating roles of climatic and non-climatic factors in shaping household well-being.