BUJUMBURA July 6th (ABP) – The Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, June 28, under the chairmanship of the Head of State, analyzed several items including the Strategic Orientation Document for watershed management and erosion control.
According to the press release, the secretary general of the government specified that the formulation of that document was motivated by: The multiplicity of development partners in the sector with a real lack of visibility on the field; the new dynamic of the government of Burundi to put development partners on the same guideline to follow through the joint Annual Action Plan; the vision that “Agriculture does not harm the Environment but agriculture and the environment are complementary”; the harmonization of watershed management and erosion control on all the hills of the country so that all watercourses are clear; concern for the contribution of watershed management and erosion control to improving agricultural intensification through hill and swamp irrigation. Thus, for the successful implementation of that strategy, it is necessary to accompany it with a National Program for the Development of Watersheds and the Fight against Erosion for the operationalization of that strategy aimed at the sustainable and effective management of soil and water. The overall objective is to promote integral and integrated management of watersheds and sub-watersheds for the restoration and sustainable management of degraded land and soil fertility with a view to significantly improving the living conditions of households.
At the end of the analysis of that document, the Cabinet passed it with the recommendations, among others, the protection of the environment and the cleanliness of the water from the rivers. In addition, the contour lines should be drawn during this dry season on all the hills of the country regardless of ownership, the territorial administration should be involved in the implementation of this project. The Cabinet also recommended that the rivers flowing into Lake Tanganyika should be protected by planting bamboo around them.