KARUSI April 25th (ABP) – The Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Déo Guide Rurema, indicated that agricultural production is good despite rumors of poor harvests. That was said on Friday, April 22, 2022, in Karusi, before the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the purchase of foodstuffs (maize, beans and rice) between the ministry in charge of agriculture and the world food program (PAM).
“In order to refute the rumors circulating, insinuating poor agricultural production, we first accepted the order of food products from the WFP which needs about 4,000 tons of maize, beans and rice intended for school canteens for the next school year,” said Minister Rurema in his interview.
Then, “we have just jointly visited the stocks in Gitega and Karusi province to make sure of these reserves”, he added. According to this minister, the harvests are sufficient thanks to the measures that have been taken such as the grouping of arable land to facilitate agricultural supervision, the organization of work in cooperatives and the availability of selected seeds and fertilizers. He also said that the ministry has put efforts in the management and proper conservation of these crops. Indeed, the government has undertaken to set encouraging prices, to buy the production, and to build warehouses to store the crops carefully. As a result, during the quality tests carried out by a WFP expert, Karusi’s stock was classified as the second category, since the WFP even buys products from the third.
The director and representative of the WFP in Burundi, Mr. Houssainou Taal congratulated the Burundian government in general, and the ministry responsible for agriculture in particular, for the step taken in terms of food security. He also sent his congratulations to the provincial office of the environment, agriculture and livestock on its good rating in relation to the conservation of crops.