Overview of the Burundi platform, south region

Elias Minani, Jean Pierre Twagirayezu, Gloriose Habonayo, Béatrice Nsabimana, Cyrille Mbonihankuye, Cyrille Hicintuka

Platform context and background The agriculture sector in Burundi represents 90% of the economic activities. The action Sites are Mahwa and Kiryama where the livestock activity is very high. For this, the entry point addressed by the platform was to provide animals (cows) to the farmers that they can produce manure which will increase soil fertility and food production

Opportunities and constraints Opportunities: • Milk and vegetables, potato and milk

production • When farmers are working in value chains,

they increase their food security and reduce poverty

• Availability of knowledge in vegetables, potato and milk production

• Existence of vegetables and milk markets Constraints: • Agriculture products and inputs traders

and administration didn’t come in the platform because they didn’t see their immediate interests

• This constraint was addressed by sensibilization of partners on the importance of the IP and value chain organizations

• structures may include researchers, administration, NGOs, farmer organizations, processors and traders

Pictures

Conclusions and ways forward At the beginning everyone was hesitating to work in platform.

After, one year, even traders were interested and they organized

with farmers a development cooperative witch take over our

activities together.

First of all is a question of engagement and responsibility. After this,

people will need a support to conduct R4D activities and to do

monitoring, evaluation and extension.

Platform progress Platform initiation : 2012 Concrete activities undertaken were to work with farmers in feeding cow in way to get much milk a day and to produce and sell cabbages. Now, the farmers are working as a cooperative

Platform facilitation and

learning • The key bottlenecks in terms of

facilitating the platform is to

convince private sector especially

traders to be in partnership with

research

• At the end of each term, a report

was given to ASARECA . Then, at

the end of the project, a final

report and leaflets have been

produced and these last are

used by farmers

• The platform facilitated the

development of livestock and

agriculture integration and policy

in providing agricultural inputs

Cyrille Hicintuka hicicyrille@yahoo.fr ● Burundi. Prepared for a capacity development workshop of the

CGIAR Research Program on Humidtropics, Nairobi, 29 April – 2 May 2014

http://humidtropics.cgiar.org/

This document is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution –Non commercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License April 2014

April- May 2014

Platform characteristics • Type of platform: research for

development platform

• Key stakeholder groups represented in platform : 7 researchers (4 were female), 7 vegetables traders, 2 inputs traders, 5 farmers representative

• The platform was operating at r(national, regional level in Bururi and Gitega provinces

• The platform activities were led by the farmers representative

• The platform was facilitating coordinator of the project

• Platform activities were funded by ASARECA