GITEGA January 15th (ABP) – The President of the Republic of Burundi Mr. Evariste Ndayishimiye exchanged Friday, January 12, 2024 at the Ingoma stadium in Gitega (center of the country), with pig breeders at the national level having more than ten pigs everyone, with a view to seeing together how to promote that breeding.
In his speech, President of the Republic Ndayishimiye thanked those breeders for their commitment to the development of the livestock sector. He called on them to redouble their efforts and create pig breeder cooperatives to facilitate the daily counting of pigs.
He noted that a pork processing plant will soon be set up. According to him, that factory will increase the value of pigs and fight poverty in Burundi because, he added, breeders will earn more money.
The Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock Mr. Prosper Dodiko, in his remarks, praised the government of Burundi for its commitment to developing the livestock and agriculture sector in the country. He pointed out that that sector can bring sustainable development to Burundi taking into account the national vision of an emerging country in 2040 and developed in 2060.
As examples, the minister in charge of agriculture and livestock indicated that there are farmers who have fields of corn and avocados with a value of more than a billion or three billion. He also noted that there are people who want to set up pork processing plants.
To that end, he asked the President of the Republic that there be a cooperative of pig breeders from the village to the national level as well as the establishment of butcheries specific to breeders to avoid enormous losses that they record during trade.
The governor of the Gitega province Mr. Venant Manirambona, in his welcoming remarks, indicated that the population of Gitega is working with the aim of increasing productivity particularly in the field of agriculture and breeding. He indeed indicated that pigs require a lot of nutritional concentrates to grow better while breeders benefit from little money during the sale, hence some people do not have the enthusiasm to raise several pigs, he revealed.
The pig breeders participating in that exchange session asked the Government of Burundi to reduce the price of pig nutrient concentrates, namely wheat bran, corn bran, palm kernel and others, by prohibiting their export. They also asked the State to help them combat inbreeding in that breeding by regulating the popularization of that domestic animal.
Note that, during that meeting, the participants set up a confederation of pig breeders composed of the executive committee and the supervisory committee. That confederation will be responsible for finding markets for the sale of pigs, their medicines and their nutritional concentrates.
They also agreed that an evaluation meeting will be held every quarter under the direction of the minister in charge of livestock and once a year, under the auspices of the President of the Republic.
The President of the Republic called on the members elected to those committees to work in unity to develop the pork breeding sector. He finally called on all Burundians to respond massively to the general population census of housing, agriculture and livestock being prepared throughout the country.
Note that that meeting saw the participation of ministers responsible for interior and community development, national defense, trade and national solidarity, who are also pig breeders.