East African Business Week (Kampala)
16 July 2007
editorial
Last week, an historic conference took place in Bujumbura.
The meet, organised by Burundi's ministry of agriculture and that of finance was called to shore up the country's agricultural potential greatly hurt by many years of civil war and anarchy.
Burundi is an agriculturally dependant nation. Agriculture accounts for over 90% of the country's production.
The country is a major producer of one of the most sought after coffees in the world. It also grows, cotton, tea, maize, sorghum, potatoes. And has a sizeable number of livestock.
It is also the world's 10th leading producer of bananas.
The last two years have seen Burundi suffer from drought leading to poor production.
This was worsened further by floods which hit the 8 million people hard and left the economy reeling from scarcity.
But despite all these problems Burundi has gotten together its resolve and is looking to the next 25 years with optimism.
The country has started to regain ground in this area. This year's crop of maize, beans and bananas was good, thanks to the mild weather.
That is why this conference was important.
The mood at the conference hall was one of resolve, promise and optimism.
The country is now looking at the new opportunities available in the East African Community (EAC).
Burundi has fertile soils and some places have a semi-temperate climate owing to high altitudes..
Its endowed with rivers and lakes and is one of four countries that shares Lake Tanganyika, the second largest and second deepest lake in the world.
The country will not re-invent the wheel. There are some success stories from the neighboirhood especially in the fields of agricullture. The EAC provides perfect ground for learning experiences and shared values.
A recent donor conference gave the country $1 billion dollars after it had requested for $700million.
That was a vote of confidence for the nation. The nation's planners need to harness modern agricultural practices in the face of scarcity of land. Education, value addition and a competitive investment climate are ingredients of sustainable agricltural returns.The country can do it.
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