BUJUMBURA January 6th (ABP) – During the delivery of his message to the nation, the President of the Republic of Burundi, Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye, announced that “Agriculture, the source of the national economy”, is the theme dedicated to the year 2022.
For President Ndayishimiye, nothing is missing for the agricultural sector to be the bedrock of national development, indicating that there should be a wake-up call and hard work to get there.
He said that the year 2022 comes when Burundians are implementing the measures taken within the Responsible and Hard-Working Government for all mouths to have food and all pockets money.
“We realized that it is the agricultural sector which must be at the base of the Burundian economy, because this sector employs and sustains many Burundians”, he underlined.
The Head of State said he was satisfied with the current achievements in the agriculture and livestock sector. He specified that, “the swamps which were lush with inedible herbs are currently covered with crops of all kinds and slopes of the hills which were pastures for cows are today adorned with magnificent fields”.
For the President of the Republic, we owe this development to the acquisition of peace and security. However, he said gaps in the agricultural sector have been noted, pointing to gaps related to: “soil degradation, lack of selected seeds and cultivation of a limited variety of plants.”
To remedy this, Mr. Ndayishimiye announced that the government has placed special emphasis on subsidizing farmers, to restore the soil to fertility.
Thus, he said, 40% of the budget allocated to agriculture is still subsidized by the State to help make the soils of farmers fertile.
Beside this, he announced that the government is currently innovating ISABU, for the production of more productive seeds, to carry out research on new varieties of seeds which produce a lot in fruits, cereals or tubers.
The President of the Republic wanted to indicate that the government encourages members of cooperatives and farmers who have agreed to pool their land holdings. According to him, this system “had the effect of lending unused State lands to agricultural producers, as part of the replacement of inedible plants by edible ones.
In terms of livestock, the Head of State announced that the country is importing new species of animals to renew the aging herd and increase production in the sector, through the sector of solidarity chains, he said. In that context, he encouraged people to practice fish farming.
In terms of environmental protection, alongside the “Ewe Burundi urambaye” reforestation program, the government is encouraging people to draw contour lines to protect the soil against erosion and retain rainwater.
The President of the Republic called for the protection and management of water sources distributed over the national territory by the drawing of anti-erosion curves so that the rainwater does not run off directly towards the valleys, but first infiltrates in the ground.
He also encouraged households to dig rainwater collection tanks so that water that is not stored seeps into the ground and does not destroy neighbors’ homes.