BUJUMBURA, January 20th (ABP) – The socio-cultural advisor to the governor of Bujumbura (western Burundi) Symphorien Banciriminsi, indicated, on Thursday, January 16, 2025, that poor families in the province plagued by diseases linked to malnutrition have no arable land and lack the means to feed their children.
For him, without food security, there is no development, a check by ABP learned at a meeting to evaluate the achievements made by the provincial commission for food security and nutrition (CPSAN) held at the headquarters of the Kabezi district. He also revealed that although bio-diversified bean seeds and orange-fleshed sweet potato strings were distributed by the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO) in the districts where malnutrition has broken out (Isare, Mubimbi, Mutimbuzi, Kanyosha, Kanyosha and Mutambu); families remain in poverty.
Banciriminsi explained that there is no trace of those seeds because the bean seeds were consumed by households or sold, while the sweet potato strings were used as fodder for farmers. He suggested that there should be awareness sessions for farmers not to consume everything but to keep part of the harvest for seeds. The interim director of the environment, agriculture and livestock in Bujumbura province, Juvénal Havyarimana, acknowledged those facts and urged the administration and the police to help suspend the purchase of potato strings by cow raisers who buy them at a low price through the commissionaires.
Governor Désiré Nsengiyumva recommended to the interim DPEAE to mobilize the staff under his responsibility for a close and quality supervision of the population, in order to lend small plots of land to the poor so that they can cultivate and have enough to feed their families.
When asked why almost all the land is occupied by corn, he replied that the diversification of seeds will be done during the 2025 season B, specifying that the government wanted to alleviate hunger by importing the highly productive PAN53 corn.