GITEGA June 17 (ABP) – The Senate, meeting in plenary assembly in the House of Gitega (center), the political capital of the country, unanimously passed two bills on Wednesday, June 16, 2021.
The meeting was marked by the presence of the Minister of Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Domitien Ndihokubwayo, who represented the government to present the said bills.
The first bill was on the ratification by the Republic of Burundi and the OPEC fund for international development (OFID) relating to the project to intensify agricultural production and reduce vulnerability in Burundi (PIPARV-B), signed in Vienna on February 1, 2021.
Speaking on the interest of the loan agreement, Minister Ndihokubwayo said that it concerns an amount of 20 million US dollars. He specified that it will allow the pursuit of the objective of PIPARV-B which is to contribute to improving the living conditions and resilience of the people of the central Burundian plateau through an integrated land management approach, thanks to an optimal use of natural resources adapted to growing demographic pressure.
He added that the project will intervene in five provinces and 20 communes including 218 villages of the central plateau. These are Gitega province with the communes of Bukirasazi, Giheta, Gishubi, Itaba, Makebuko, Nyarusange and Ryansoro; the Karusi province with the communes of Gihogazi, Mutumba and Shombo; the province of Kayanza with the communes of Kabarore, Gatara, Kayanza and Matongo; the province of Ngozi with the communes of Marangara, Mwumba and Nyamurenza; and finally the province of Muyinga with the communes of Giteranyi, Gasorwe and Muyinga.
As for the second bill, it dealt with the ratification by the Republic of Burundi and the African Development Bank (AfDB) of a project to support the sustainable development of agricultural and livestock value chains of Burundi (PADCAE-B), signed on December 18, 2018.
Minister Ndihokubwayo explained to senators that the project aligns with the national development plan 2018-2027, specifying that it aims at the sustainable strengthening of food and nutritional security as well as the resilience of the rural people of the provinces of Ngozi, Kirundo and Muyinga.
He added the project also aims to increase the income of the people and that its interventions will be mainly focused on a limited number of value chains (rice, maize, goats, pigs and fish) identified by beneficiaries.