Category: Industry

Après la province Ngozi, le 1er Ministre Gervais Ndirakobuca a effectué une visite mercredi 09 novembre 2022, dans la province de Muyinga.

L’objectif de cette visite était de rencontrer les responsables administratifs, judiciaires, militaires, de la police, les représentants de la population, de la société civile et les leaders politiques et des confessions religieuses, les commerçants etc.

Dans son mot d’accueil, le Gouverneur de Muyinga au nom de la population a félicité le 1er Ministre pour ses nouvelles fonctions. Il a indiqué que la population de la province Muyinga vaque à ses travaux de développement dans la tranquillité. Il a fait savoir néanmoins que la province Muyinga est confrontée aux problèmes familiaux liés aux conflits fonciers.

Prenant la parole, le premier Ministre Gervais Ndirakobuca a indiqué qu’il s’est rendu en province Muyinga pour évaluer avec les responsables dans les différents secteurs, le pas déjà franchi en ce qui concerne le développement, 2 ans après la mise en place du gouvernement responsable et laborieux dirigé par le Président de la République Evariste Ndayishimiye.

Il a rappelé à la population de Muyinga que le Burundi a traversé des moments difficiles et lui a demandé de rattraper le temps perdu en s’attelant aux travaux de développement tout en sauvegardant la paix et la sécurité.

Le 1er ministre a ensuite exhorté les responsables des différents services en province Muyinga à changer de mentalité et à être caractérisés par la bonne collaboration afin d’assurer le bien-être de la population et de gérer les biens publics en bons pères de famille.

Le 1er Ministre Gervais Ndirakobuca a demandé aux chefs de services à bien s’acquitter de leur travail, de respecter les heures de travail, d’appliquer et de faire respecter la loi. Il les a appelés à faire des descentes sur terrain pour recueillir les doléances et préoccupations qui hantent la population afin de trouver des solutions.

A la population, il lui a demandé de vivre en harmonie en évitant des conflits familiaux et la justice populaire qui causent souvent des troubles au sein de la communauté.

A la fin de son discours, il a mis en garde ceux qui veulent commercialiser les fertilisants du FOMI. Le Premier Ministre Gervais Ndirakobuca a rappelé que les produits de FOMI sont destinés uniquement aux agriculteurs. D’autres catégories des gens mis en garde par le premier ministre sont des fraudeurs et ceux qui gaspillent la production agricole en la vendant dans les pays limitrophes, une fois attrapé, ils seront sévèrement punis.

Source: Radio Television Burundi

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Although global food and fuel prices have decreased since the price spike that started February through June 2022, this has not been reflected in domestic commodity prices as they are still elevated and continue to rise. Most domestic currencies in the region have been a free fall against the US$ and weakening trend is expected to continue through the end of the year.

Despite the start of seasonal harvests in unimodal areas, the prices of staple cereals remained significantly higher in the third quarter, much elevated than previous year and the recent fiveyear average in most markets. Staple commodity prices increased m-o-m in most markets in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan, due to a reduction in stocks and localized factors (drought, macro-economic challenges, conflict etc). Maize prices however decreased in Uganda and parts of Tanzania due to supply from the below-average June-toJuly harvest.

The high cost of food and fuel will keep upward pressure on inflation across the region. The continued increase in cost of living is expected to constrain disposable income and purchasing power of low-income households.

There is an overall concern of a tight global and regional supply outlook for maize due to weather related lower production prospects in the European Union, the United States of America and in Eastern Africa amidst export restrictions by Tanzania limiting WFP’s grain source markets.

Source: World Food Programme

After finding sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundian refugees are sharing their knowledge of farming with locals.

The sound of a lively song floats down a hill where a group of Burundian refugees and their Congolese neighbours are farming together near the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Zacharie, 25, proudly shows off the land he is cultivating in the Tabac Congo locality, some 15 kilometres outside of Kalemie town.

“I became interested in agriculture by watching Burundian refugees farming and growing tomatoes, cabbages, onions and aubergines,” says the Congolese father of one. “A few years ago, there were very few of these vegetables at the local market.”

His Burundian friend, Pierre, 41, nods in agreement. “When I was working in a field, Zacharie often stopped by on his way to town,” he says. “He would ask a lot of questions and seemed interested in my work. One day, I asked him to join me to harvest vegetables.”

Pierre adds that the generosity of the local Congolese community has encouraged him and many other Burundian refugees to build lives for themselves in the Tabac Congo area, where they found safety after fleeing Burundi’s post-election violence in June 2015.

With his wife and four children, and alongside thousands of other refugees, Pierre had used the cover of night to reach the border city of Uvira, in the DRC’s South Kivu Province before taking a boat south on Lake Tanganyika, until they reached Kalemie. Devastated at having left his belongings and his livelihood as a farmer behind, he never imagined at the time, that he would manage to rebuild his life.

“The first days were not easy, but we arrived here with other families who were able to speak Swahili. That helped us in finding some small jobs and to slowly earn a living and put a roof over our heads,” recalls Pierre. “The first months we were living with other families in a small shelter. I now work hard, have my own house, and try to give back to the community that has hosted us for so long.”

Before he met Pierre, Zacharie was also struggling to get by on small jobs like producing palm oil for cooking. What started as a seasonal job working alongside Pierre soon became full-time.

With Pierre’s support, Zacharie has learnt techniques for growing vegetables and now rents a small piece of land that he farms, earning some money to take care of his family.

“I learnt everything from scratch – from ploughing the field, to selecting the right seeds and tools to farm,” says Zacharie.

For his part, Pierre has learned Swahili from Zacharie.

“We plough this land by the sweat of our brow,” he says. “Every day is a struggle, but we have to put food on the table.”

He adds that the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs have created additional challenges. “Good quality seeds have become expensive, and we often lack land where we can cultivate with adequate tools.”

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners are trying to address some of these obstacles by providing refugees with agricultural tools and seeds and advocating with local authorities for access to arable land.

“Our operation in the DRC is one of the most underfunded in the world and we are trying to create sustainable farming initiatives like this one to enhance refugees’ self-reliance,” says Mamadou Cissokho, the Head of UNHCR’s Sub-Office in Kalemie. To date, UNHCR has received only 40 per cent of the US$225.4 million required to respond to the needs of displaced people in the DRC.

Regardless of the challenges, the hard work and skills of refugees are recognized and appreciated by many in the area.

“We appreciate their solidarity and willingness to teach others,” says Windo, a local chief in one of the villages in Tabac Congo. “We buy fresh produce from traders at the local market who buy the vegetables directly from Pierre and other refugee farmers.”

Pierre and his fellow refugee farmers dream of gaining access to more agricultural land and tools so they can plant and produce a wider variety of vegetables to be sold at the local market. In the meantime, they have shared their farming knowledge with over 40 young Congolese like Zacharie.

“I often take my friends to the fields, especially during the harvest season, to encourage them to start farming,” says Zacharie. “Seeing Pierre and his family do so much in a foreign country has taught us a lot.”

Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Son Excellence Monsieur le Ministre des Finances, du Budget et de la Planification Economique a tenu une réunion à l’endroit des hauts cadres de l’administration centrale ainsi que ceux des institutions sous tutelle de ce Ministère le lundi, 3 octobre 2022. L’objectif de cette réunion était de faire une prise de contact entre les nouvelles autorités et les hauts cadres dudit Ministère. Il s’agissait aussi d’échanger brièvement sur la manière dont ils peuvent développer ensemble des stratégies efficaces en vue d’améliorer le rendement au sein de ce Ministère.

Source: Ministry of finance

Son Excellence Monsieur le Ministre des Finances, du Budget et de la Planification Economique s’est entretenu avec la délégation de la Banque Africaine de développement qui séjourne au Burundi en vue de la préparation du Projet Multinational de Chemin de fer Tanzanie-Burundi-RDC, le mardi 4 Octobre 2022 dans les enceintes du Ministère des Finances. Les échanges ont porté sur le projet de construction du chemin de fer et sur celui d’extraction du nickel de Musongati.

Le Ministre en charge des Finances a réitéré la volonté et l’engagement du Gouvernement du Burundi d’exécuter ces travaux aussi importants pour le pays et pour la région de l’Afrique de l’Est. Les études de faisabilité ainsi que la mobilisation des fonds sont en cours et tout le processus se déroule en synergie avec les parties prenantes.

Source: Ministry of finance

KHARTOUM – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a contribution of US$4.5 million from the Government of Japan to provide life-saving food assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan. The funding will enable WFP to purchase 3,600 MT of sorghum to support 130,000 IDPs in Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur states for the next four months.

“We are extremely grateful for this generous funding from the Government of Japan to support women, men and children who have been driven from their homes by conflict,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP’s Representative and Country Director in Sudan. “Chronic funding shortages are forcing WFP to reduce food rations even for the most vulnerable such as IDPs and refugees. We appeal to donors to help restore full rations.”  

Japan’s contribution comes at a time when the combined effects of conflict, extreme weather, economic and political crises, poor harvests and rising costs of food, energy and fertilizer, caused in part by the conflict in Ukraine, have left over 15 million people food insecure in Sudan according to WFP’s Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment (CFSVA). The assessment further warns that this number could rise to 18 million – or 40 percent of the population – by September, as families struggle to cope through the lean season.

“We think it is necessary for us to help Sudan respond to the current food crisis through WFP which provides life-saving food assistance to vulnerable populations, particularly IDPs in Sudan,” said H.E. Mr. Hattori Takashi, Ambassador of Japan to Sudan. “This contribution from the people of Japan comes as part of our responsibility as friends of the Sudanese people towards the improvement of their food security amidst an ongoing global food crisis.”

In 2022, WFP has so far provided food and nutrition assistance to over 4.8 million people in Sudan including 1.7 million IDPs who continue to receive much needed emergency assistance through in-kind food and cash. However, due to chronic funding shortfalls, WFP is only able to provide half rations for all IDPs and refugees.

The Government of Japan is a long-standing partner of WFP in Sudan. In 2020 and 2021, Japan contributed a total of US$4.5 million to WFP for various initiatives including support for people whose livelihoods were affected by locust invasions, emergency nutrition assistance for infants, mothers and pregnant women in West and Central Darfur, emergency food assistance for refugees fleeing conflict in northern Ethiopia and capacity strengthening for the delivery of social protection services.

Source: World Food Programme