BURUNDI: Environmental causes behind food shortages in northern Kirundo

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BUJUMBURA, 7 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - Declining rainfall - caused by the destruction of forest, water catchments and other ecosystems - is one of the major reasons for food shortages in Burundi's northeastern province of Kirundo and humans are to blame, local experts said.

The country's northeast has been described as a "zone of destitution". Large numbers of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) fleeing the war began arriving in the area in 1993, and over the years have had a significant environmental impact.

"They cut all the trees in search of firewood and wood for their shelters," Ferdinand Nderagakura, the director of the Ministry of the Environment, said.

The governor of Kirundo Province, Philoppe Njoni, said at least 57,000 IDPs systemically destroyed forests since 1993 in their desperate bid to survive. They even used schoolroom chairs and desks for firewood and their cattle overgrazed, stripping the land of all vegetation, including papyrus and other grasses used to make mats.

Njoni said the Murehe Nature Reserve, which harboured bamboo and aquatic grasses, had also been depleted. Experts said the depletion of vegetation had caused less rainfall, resulting in some lakes drying up.

Declining Rainfall

During the agricultural year September 1998 to March 1999, rainfall in the area was twice as low as normal. For example, during a 10-day period in December 1998, rainfall decreased from an average of 28.6 mm to 7.7 mm. The story is similar for subsequent years, resulting in May 2000 in stunted growth of even drought-resistant crops like sorghum. In May 2003, the growth of crops was also affected. There was not a single drop of rain in the area.

Ironically, unexpectedly heavy rains have also damaged crops. In September 2004, farmers were misled into sowing their crops early, but the advantage was wiped out by lower-than-average rainfall in October. The director-general of Burundi's Geographical Institute (L'Institut Géographique du Burundi - IGEBU), Denis Baramaje, said such short-term, agro-meteorological disturbances caused stress to crops, which resulted in low yields.

The effect of environmental degradation on agriculture has been the dramatically lowered crop yields, the director at the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), Denis Bandushubwenge, said.

"The famine in Kirundo significantly followed poor distribution of rainfall during the last six years - that is from 1998 to 2004," Bandushubwenge said.

Humanitarian agencies have described the situation as "a serious food shortage".

The period 1998 to 2004 was when forests were systematically destroyed in the province, coinciding with the refugee influx.

Other Causes of Food Shortage

However, what Baramaje described as "structural causes" were, he said, also blocking efforts to prevent food shortages. One of these, he cited, was the lack of "coordinated and integrated action" among stakeholders. For example, he said, the Ministry of Agriculture should regularly take into account data issued by the IGEBU, so that farmers do not plant their seeds at the wrong moment.

War, which has caused huge population displacements, is another factor. Displaced people have not had access to land, an already scarce resource in the country of just 25,650 sq km. of land. This factor, Foliot said, had pushed most of the displaced into "extreme poverty".

He said a study on vulnerability conducted by the WFP in September 2004 showed that the majority of Burundi's farmers each worked less than one hectare of land. Under these circumstances the displaced were unlikely to get land.

Plant diseases and fraud were also factors limiting food production. Bandushubwenge said the manioc mosaic fungus had been attacking cassava tubers, a cash crop which is also a staple. Yams, another favoured tuber, had completely disappeared, he said.

Food shortages have made the distribution of aid necessary, but this temporary solution has been subject to fraud by local officials, a factor that has aggravated hunger among people in Kirundo. Evidence of this has come from Christian Kwizera, a resident of Kirundo Commune. He recalled having once counted 254 false names on a food distribution list for Kigoma zone. Another 438 false names were uncovered at Mugendo. In both cases, he said, low-level administrators were responsible.

Kwizera is a member of the Association of Students of the Northern Lakes. He regularly handles lists established to identify people needing relief aid in Kirundo and said he worked closely with the WFP during distributions.

Further evidence of fraud is the presence of large quantities of relief aid in shops and markets in Kirundo, where the provincial governor, Philippe Njoni, also admitted that some administrative officials had been involved. Their methods are to either pass on relief aid to their relatives or simply sell it.

Measures to stamp out these practices are planned. The minister of social action, Françoise Ngendahayo, said a roster of persons, such as church leaders, would be made to determine eligibility for relief aid recipients, thereby ensuring that only the needy received help.

"Administration officials will only play the role of coordinator and assessor of the lists," Ngendahayo said.

Solution to Food Security Problem

Suggestions have been made to overcome the food security problem in Kirundo. One plan is to introduce fast-maturing, drought-resistant crops into the country. New varieties of cassava, maze and yams are being provided to overcome fungal plant diseases.

"ISABU is multiplying seven varieties of the manioc resistant cassava," Bandushubwenge said.

However, he said many more seeds would be needed and with donor help ISABU could meet 60 percent of the area's cassava seed needs.

The minister of agriculture, Pierre Ndikumagenge, has said his ministry would provide money to farmers to buy fertilizers in order to help increase yields.

Long-Term Solutions

Beyond these short- to medium-term solutions, the government has devised a plan to halt, if not reverse, environmental degradation.

"We have a plan to manage catchment areas in affected provinces," Bandushubwenge said.

Mixed farming should be organised, he said, as well as parasite-resistant trees planted and grass-filled channels dug around hills to help stop the topsoil washing away and improve the absorption of water runoff.

Rain harvesting and drip irrigation, a technique used extensively in Israel, have also been suggested to save water. Experts say Burundi could draw water from its northern lakes, such as the Cohoha, Rweru and Rwihinda. Swamp-drainage practices would also have to be stopped, said Gaspard Ntakimazi, a biologist at the University of Burundi.

Other experts said the scope must be wider. A long-term solution, one expert said, would be to have a regionwide initiative of intensive tree planting throughout Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

[ENDS]