Environment

Over 2,500 water sources dried in Burundi, Environment Ministry says

03-27-2020 “Our country has 24,787 water sources, 17,821 of them are preserved, 1,418 are disappearing while 2,508 have completely dried up,” said Emmanuel Ndorimana, permanent secretary to the Minister of Environment this 26 March. It was in the context of the celebration of the International Water Day which is usually (...)

Green charcoal to save forests

03-25-2020 Delphin Kaze, 23, a young man from Gitega, Burundi’s second-largest city, located in the Nile basin, has found an alternative to preserve the trees. He makes ecological charcoal from maize stalks. In Burundi, wood is the primary source of domestic energy, with 96.6% of the overall energy balance. By (...)

Over 460 people died due to heavy rains in 2019

02-29-2020 “At least 461 people died, over 700 injured, nearly 11,000 houses destroyed, more than 65,000 ha of fields damaged and more than 14,000 people displaced in 2019 as the result of the heavy rains that fell in Burundi,” said André Ndayambaje, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Public Security, (...)

Bujumbura residents concerned about rotting garbage inside households

02-13-2020 Residents of the northern neighborhoods of the economic capital Bujumbura express their worries over rubbish accumulated in their households and in public places. They say the companies in charge of removing them from households have not worked for three weeks. In COTEBU market located in Ngagara area in the (...)

No migratory locusts’ invasion in Burundi, Ministry of Agriculture reassures

02-11-2020 A video showing swarms of locusts lying on trees has been aired on social media. The video producers made people believe that migratory locusts that are destroying crops in some East African countries namely Kenya, South Sudan and Ethiopia appeared in Gakungwe area in Kabezi commune of Bujumbura province (...)

Government ready to prevent desert locusts from invading Burundi

02-05-2020 Following the invasion of desert locusts in the region since the past few days, the Burundian Ministry in charge of Agriculture reported that different measures have been taken to prevent these locusts from invading the country. Déo Guide Rurema, Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock has said that the (...)

Rain damage risks cutting off Bujumbura from other provinces

01-30-2020 More than 130 houses were destroyed as a result of the torrential rain that hit Bujumbura city in the afternoon of 28 January. The National Platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management warns that Bujumbura will be cut off from the rest of other provinces if nothing is done (...)

Law banning use of plastic materials to be enforced soon

01-23-2020 With less than a month before the end of the use of non-biodegradable materials, Bujumbura residents continue to use plastic bags widely. Minister of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock claims to be fully prepared for the law enforcement. They say the government has the role to ban plastic materials marketing. (...)

Security Minister says flood victims must protect themselves

01-16-2020 Alain Guillaume Bunyoni, Minister of Public Security and Disaster Management, says victims of floods in Bujumbura city are victims of uncontrolled constructions. “The best solution is to leave the localities. They know how they arrived there and they must do so to leave the places,” he says. It was (...)

Environmental expert worried about urban territorial management

01-14-2020 Following the heavy rain that has fallen in different localities of the country causing heavy causalities especially in Bujumbura city over the past few days, a disaster management expert suggests solutions to overcome the situation. Léonidas Nibigira, a disaster management expert says the issue can be analyzed in two (...)