RUTANA June 4th (ABP) – As part of the promotion of good agricultural practices and to deal with food insecurity, agricultural days have been held from May 25 to June 3 in 4 hills of the Rutana commune and province (south-east of the country), a check in Rutana by ABP has revealed.
Organized by the local NGO called Help Channel Burundi within the framework of the “Ikigega iwacu” project, (A granary in our house), those days are, in fact, an opportunity to visit the best farmers among the members of groups initiated by the project who have proven themselves in the practice of the techniques learned, so that others can take their example.
Those days which took place on the hills of Bugunga, Gaterama, Gasakuza and Nyamure which constitute the intervention zone of the “Ikigega iwacu” project had, at their beginning, been honored with the presence of the provincial authorities including the adviser to the governor in charge of development and the provincial director of the environment, agriculture and livestock to see with their own eyes and hear with vivid voices the testimonies from farmers on the benefits of that project in terms of the productivity of their soils.
During those days, the officials and agents of that NGO divided into two teams each visited 3 of the 12 groups made up of 20 households on each hill, to see how those who ranked first in the adoption of good agricultural practices by the hill facilitators of that project took it upon themselves. This is to urge others to follow their example.
Those invited were all the members of the groups visited as well as the managers of 10 other neighboring households, called to come and learn through the experience of those visited.
The first ranked in each group made presentations on the way they worked and the others asked them comprehension questions in order to be able to internalize the agricultural techniques used. At the end, all the members of the groups gathered together for a question-and-answer session on the lessons received on the project axes of increasing production, savings and loan and gender promotion. Each correct answer was crowned with the award of a prize consisting of a cooking pot, a basin, a box of soaps, a hoe and a loincloth.
As for the farmers classified first in their group, they received an envelope containing an amount of 40,000 BIF as an encouragement in their work.