GITEGA January 23rd (ABP) – The Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Déo Guide Rurema and the Minister of the Interior, Patriotic Education and Local Development, Mr. Pascal Barandagiye invited in Gitega (center) on Monday, provincial governors, communal administrators of Burundi as well as stakeholders in the environment sector, to strengthen their synergy of actions in the supervision of the people to the establishment of anti-erosive devices in landholdings.
As far as he is concerned, the Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock commended the presence of his counterpart in charge of the Interior in that meeting, with a view to the support in raising the awareness among the actors of those two ministries to work in synergy to increase agricultural production. He appreciated the good agricultural performance of the past agricultural seasons and obtained thanks to the combined efforts of administrative officials and field technicians. It is thanks to that collaboration that progress is being made at the level of the coaching of farmers on new farming techniques and in the distribution of agricultural inputs. He invited those actors to strengthen their collaboration to improve their performance in terms of supervising farmers and thereby increasing agricultural production.
This synergy of actions must be a reality, particularly in terms of raising awareness among the people on the ultimate need for drawing contour lines in the villages, marsh management and the protection of water sources by planting adapted trees. Those actors have been called upon to ensure the implementation of the law prohibiting the planting of trees that consume a lot of water in the perimeters of water source protection. Mr. Rurema also recommended the promotion of village irrigation.
On his part, the Minister of the Interior, Patriotic Education and Local Development said that obtaining the best agricultural yields requires the involvement of administrative authorities in raising awareness. He called on provincial governors and communal administrators to take an active part in raising awareness among the people to establish anti-erosive devices. He recommended a day dedicated to contour tracing during community development works, before inviting authorities and other leaders to act as role models in their own fields. Mr. Barandagiye also said that the state of tracing contour lines will be taken into account during the assessment of communal performance.
The minister in charge of the interior also invited the administrative authorities to monitor the NGOs of their respective entities, stating that only those who have had the official authorization have the right to practice. The period previously granted to NGOs that would like to reintroduce their request to practice in Burundi will be extended, he said.
A delegate from the new plant producing organo-mineral fertilizers industries in Mutimbuzi commune of Bujumbura Rural province (west), Mr. Simon Ntirampeba, said on his part that this plant that has come to meet the demand of the farmers in chemical fertilizers is hard at work. He asked for the coaching by the administrative authorities and the agricultural technicians during the tests envisaged soon.
In turn, Mr. Jérémie Nkinahatemba, Interim General Manager of the Environment, Water and Sanitation, explained the benefits of the law forbidding the planting of trees that consume a lot of water in the perimeters of protection of the water sources, shallows and marshes. One of the advantages is the prevention of the reduction or the drying up of the water sources, so indispensable for the life of the Burundian citizens.
