An integrated programme

6 Feb 2021 • News

FOOD-SECURITY: COMMON MANAGEMENT FOR REDUCTION OF DOMESTIC CONFLICT

Harvest in Burundi has always been associated with joy. Sometimes it becomes a source of conflict in households due to mismanagement or misuse.

In Makamba, as in some other parts of the country, farmers testify that a good harvest is one of the indicators of well-being because it’s the main source of income for many people. They also confirm that it’s not easy for some people to make the harvest more profitable because some misuse it and instead of enjoying the outcome of their efforts, conflicts break out.

Eric, a farmer living in the southern part of Burundi in Makamba, has been practicing traditional farming for many years that has always resulted in low production and little impact on his family.

Three years ago the Anglican Church of Burundi in collaboration with Episcopal Relief and Development initiated a new approach to development through an Integrated Programme that covers some basic elements like climate resilience, food security, promoting community health, and the fight against gender based violence.

Eric has participated in the programme and has learnt some skills that he has been practicing and according to his experience has brought an obvious change. For instance, the modern farming techniques have enabled farmers like him to increase the production they get each season from the same field.

He stressed that the increase of harvest has allowed families to improve their conditions of life but has sometimes also resulted in domestic conflict because crops they harvested have not been used for development purposes. Eric says that this kind of conflict is due to the lack of common storage and management of the harvest. “It’s easy for a husband to sell a quantity of harvest when he needs a drink. The women eventually oppose him for using the resources for non-profit reasons and conflict arises,” he says.

Through the Integrated Programme, farmers of Nyankara in Makamba decided to address those issues by initiating a common hangar for locally produced harvest. The Cooperative that is investing in agriculture will store its crops under common structured management. According to the cooperative members this common management will reduce domestic conflicts as it will set a price for the products and farmers will make profits as the association negotiates the best price and will be in charge of finding a good market for produce.