KIRUNDO, November 7th (ABP) – The Steering Committee of the “COPIL/PPSAN” provincial food security and nutrition platform in Kirundo province (northern Burundi), together with the “Fondation Stamm” organization, organized a coordination meeting of food security and nutrition stakeholders on Thursday, October 31, 2024.
The meeting, chaired by Victor Segasago, Governor of Kirundo province and President of COPIL/PPSAN, was based on an assessment of partners’ activities and the formulation of recommendations. According to Zénon Nsananikiye, coordinator of the PATAREB and PADCAE-B government projects, in his presentation the PATAREB project has distributed 462 goats, 100 pigs, 1,000 rabbits and 1,000 poultry to 2,100 beneficiaries with a view to ensuring the well-being of the population. He added that the PATAREB project is intensifying rice-growing through its partner IRRI, and 4,000 people in Kirundo province are benefiting from modern agricultural techniques.
With regard to the PADCAE-B project in Kirundo province, coordinator Nsananikiye reported that 231 hectares of marshland, 252 hectares for hill irrigation and 2,955 hectares of watersheds overlooking the marshes, on which agro-forestry species and fixative grasses will be planted, are currently being developed. The PADCAE-B project also covers the Muyinga and Ngozi provinces.
During the meeting, appreciation was expressed for the way in which the PADCAE-B project had distributed maize seed on time, enabling many farmers to sow on time too. Under the same project, 10 tons of PAN 53 variety and 2 tons of Bazooka were distributed to farmers.
It was also an opportunity to positively assess the transversal activities of the NGO Welthungerhilfe in the education sector, with the endogenous school canteen program. That organization, via the “Kurwiza” project. The same project is also intensifying the cultivation of orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, which are used to produce bread, doughnuts and cookies, said Welthungerhilfe representative Vénérand Ndikumana.
Boussissia Nkezimana, Envoy of the Permanent Executive Secretariat of the Multisectoral Platform for Food Security and Nutrition “SEP/PMSAN”, recommended synergy between partners and the administration in order to face up to the challenges haunting that field, striving to develop agriculture, which is the main pillar in that area of food security and nutrition, while ensuring the promotion of livestock farming.
As for Governor Segasago, he recommended that partners submit reports to the administration within the required deadlines, while asking them to ensure that the objectives of their projects and programs are achieved.