BUJUMBURA July 16th (ABP) – The governor of Bujumbura province (western Burundi), Mr. Désiré Nsengiyumva, along with the director general of water and sanitation resources in the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Félicien Nyorobeka, held on Wednesday July 14, at the headquarters of Kabezi commune, a meeting for executives of the Provincial Directorate of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock (DPAE), district and zone agronomists and veterinarians, as well as administrators of districts, a check on the site by ABP has revealed.
The government of Burundi has placed agriculture in its priorities for the people to have enough to eat and drink, which must also be a reality for the province of Bujumbura, said Governor Nsengiyumva, noting that it is a great opportunity for stakeholders at the meeting to set activities to be carried out over the next 100 days, during this summer period.
According to Governor Nsengiyumva, this is to ensure the supervision of farmers in season C 2021 also known as the swamp season so that they can irrigate the swamps and irrigable areas on the hills in order to increase production. It is also an opportunity to make an inventory of properties of more than 2 hectares which will be exploited in monoculture by private individuals, associations or cooperatives in season A of 2022, he added.
The provincial governor pleaded for the Ministry in charge of Agriculture to make selected seeds and agricultural inputs available to farmers in that province. He regretted that the people of that province remain less and less receptive to the use of FOMI fertilizers and called on the staff of the DPEAE to raise awareness of the latter. He also stressed that the soil fertility carried by erosion goes to the plain and asked that there be projects to protect the watersheds of the foothills of Bujumbura.
The director general of water and sanitation resources said that the meeting is part of the government policy to increase food production so that every mouth has food and every pocket money. The rapid results initiative was initiated so that in the swamp season of this summer, there should be a large food production by carrying out irrigation where possible, but also to get into season A 2022. Here, it is an issue of making an inventory of all the properties of 2 ha and more in all the communes which will be exploited collectively or solo in order to apply a single crop, with the same supervision, and the harvest will be carried out at the same time.
For him, it will no longer be necessary to produce for subsistence, but it will be necessary to produce for the market, not only to have enough to eat, but also to have something to sell. He took that opportunity to announce that 14,734.88 ha will be exploited and irrigated in season C of 2021 and that 15,998.48 ha will be developed in season A of 2022.
To win this bet, the governor of Bujumbura province recommended collaboration between DPEAE technicians, administrative officials and farmers. He also promised the availability of administrative officials whenever necessary.