BUJUMBURA March 29th (ABP) – “The development of the family and the community depends on the laudable initiatives of rural women”, underlined the director of the promotion of the empowerment of women and the promotion of the girl Ministry of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, Mrs. Claudine Ahishakiye, during an interview she gave on Tuesday March 28, 2023 to the ABP.
Mrs. Ahishakiye pointed out that the Burundians are made up of more than 52% women, 80% of whom are rural women who are largely involved in agriculture and livestock farming. The rural woman also takes care of the children, hygiene, cleanliness of her children and her husband’s clothes, as well as other household chores. This overload prevents her from moving into other development sectors such as trade, crafts, politics, to name a few, according to her.
Mrs. Ahishakiye also deplored that women encounter many challenges in carrying out their activities, especially those related to Burundian culture which do not allow them to flourish in their self-development initiatives and development of his country. She also does not have the power to decide on the management of production, she continued.
Given that the government of Burundi continues to encourage the population to work in cooperatives, Mrs. Ahishakiye said that the ministry responsible for gender continues to sensitize women to join cooperatives because, she meant, solo work does not allow women to flourish. “If the budget allows it, the ministry in charge of gender will pursue its ultimate mission of building the capacities of women who come together in cooperatives, at the technical, material and financial level as well as at the level of protection and sustainability of the achievements. “, she reassured.
According to the head of the provincial office of the associative and cooperative movement in Bubanza province, Édouard Nzambimana, women are certainly the pillar of development and a substitute for the head of the family in his absence. He also reported having welcomed, since the beginning of 2022, many women’s associations which are currently estimated at 87% thanks to the creation of the Investment Bank for the Development of Women (BIDF). . According to him, the Bubanza province currently has more than 50 women’s cooperatives already registered. He added that 39 women’s cooperatives have already submitted their loan application files to BIDF, including 9 who have already obtained loans to implement their projects in the sectors of agriculture and livestock, handicrafts, trade and many more.
“Today, 20 or 30 women come together and use their skills and strengths in the development of a development project which, in turn, generates income that helps them save and meet family needs”, pointed out Mr. Nzambimana while stressing that the women of Bubanza province have understood that unity is strength, if we take into account the pace of formation of women’s associations compared to that of men’s associations.
However, that leader of the associative movement in Bubanza province regrets that these associations or cooperatives encounter difficulties in accessing the BIDF due to its location and its requirements, given that the majority of the members of the latter have not been able to go to the bench school or finish school. He also deplores the fact that even if women’s associations or cooperatives are becoming more and more numerous, the number of those who have already accessed loans from the BIDF leaves something to be desired.
Mrs. Kamvune and her daughter planting sweet potato cuttings
He asked the BIDF to review and reduce the documents required, as the Economic Empowerment and Youth Employment Program (PAEEJ) did, to respond to credit applicants in a short period of time, to set up BIDF agencies in all the provinces of the country and to work in close collaboration with the administrative officials of the country, more particularly those of the provincial offices of the cooperative and associative movements.
Met on the site in her field in the process of weeding beans, Mrs. Jeannette Nzigirabakina from the village and commune Musigati in Bubanza province indicated to the ABP that the rural woman is more involved in rural and household work compared to her husband who leaves in the morning and returns in the evening.
To that end, she indicated that the major challenge faced by rural women is fatigue because she works tirelessly from dawn to sunset without ignoring that she has to take care of the well-being of his offspring.
Mrs. Nzigirabakina was corroborated by Marie Kamvune, a rural woman met in the middle of work planting sweet potato cuttings in Kayange village of Musigati commune, who did not mince words by emphasizing that in a household without a wife, development is almost impossible.
For all intents and purposes, Mrs. Nzigirabakina calls for capacity building in modern agriculture to increase yield because, she explained, the consuming population is becoming larger in relation to the producing people. It also requires the supply of selected seeds, fertilizers, irrigation tools in the marshes as well as phytosanitary products.