BUJUMBURA November 3rd (ABP) – The Landscape Restoration and Resilience Project in Burundi (PRRPB), carried out in Bujumbura province, in 10 out of 16 villages in the province, is preparing to pack up on March 31, 2024, a check on the site by ABP revealed on Tuesday October 31, 2023, during a workshop to prepare for the closure of activities, held in the headquarters of the province, in the commune of Isare.
The non-governmental organization, ACORD, which carried out the work, took advantage of that opportunity to present to stakeholders what was done during 5 years of activities.
In terms of environmental protection, trees were planted in the watersheds and contour lines were drawn, fixative grasses were planted. Regarding the restoration of soil fertility, the beneficiaries benefited from fertilizers, quality seeds, the land was well developed and they were taught modern farming techniques. Furthermore, land belonging to farmers was registered at the communal land office, we learned on site.
The beneficiaries of the project lamented that the project was coming to an end, while certain activities were unfinished and others had not been carried out, suggesting that they be carried out in the remaining months. In that regard, they discussed the provision of milk collection centers, the protection of ravines and the obtaining of land registration certificates for some.
However, it should be noted that some beneficiaries behaved badly, by uprooting the planted trees and the fixing trees planted on the contour lines, and sometimes also, some blocked the contour lines.
Those who behaved in that way were asked to put an end to that bad practice and to restore what was torn out and to retrace the contour lines, where they were blocked, because after all, that work belongs to them before be a public heritage.
The representative of the PRRP, expert in gender and social inclusion, Mrs. Léonie Niyonkuru indicated that the project came to pull the population of the Isare commune out of poverty and that it achieved many things. She called on her to safeguard and strengthen what she has learned, so as not to return to square one. She asked the Isare commune to take charge of the communal land office and the equipment in order to continue to register the population’s land.
Responding to the population’s grievances, Ms. Niyonkuru reported that the activities that were planned in the budget will continue to be carried out, adding that milk collection centers and the protection of ravines were not planned in the project.
The head of the office of the governor of Bujumbura, Mr. Dieudonné Bizimana, called on the beneficiaries to consolidate the achievements of the project and on the monitors of the ten supported villages to help the population take off and use coercive force against those who refuse to join. to the project’s achievements.