MURAMVYA August 8th (ABP) – Beneficiaries of the Burundi Agricultural and Rural Financial Inclusion Support Project, PAIFAR-B, are getting used to financial education, opening accounts, making savings and taking out loans in microfinance institutions, in order to develop, Jean Mariro, team leader of the guides assigned to the central region facilitation unit, told a check by ABP.
He nevertheless regretted that the Kiganda commune made the exception because no cooperative or beneficiary had taken out a loan. Which means, according to Mr. Mariro, that financial education is still an issue there.
With regard to other field challenges, the team leader of the coaches assigned to the regional facilitation unit, center at PAIFAR-B, talked of strategic challenges. There are framework agreements that bind PAIFAR-B with its technical and financial partners, in particular the National Federation of Cooperatives of Burundi, which has expired. Thus, FENACOBU does not manage to finance up to the pro rata of the beneficiaries of PAIFAR-B. Speaking on other constraints, he highlighted good governance in cooperatives, which is not well established, agricultural inputs which arrive late. He gave as examples the fertilizers of FOMI, the seeds of hybrid maize which arrive outside the growing season, thus causing a considerable reduction in farming production.
He asked the administrative authorities to get actively involved in the running of the cooperatives, in good governance. He invited them to often visit the cooperatives, and recommended them to provide periodic reports, to organize meetings periodically, to inquire about the real situation on the field.
To the beneficiaries of PAIFAR-B, he demanded that they open their eyes in order to change mentalities and understand that no one can evolve without taking out loans, because there are projects that require a lot of funds that a household cannot dispose of.