A scramble for fertilizer in Gitega

The government promised people to provide chemical fertilizers at a reasonable price. Farmers paid for the scheme in August. Three months later the fertilizers are not sufficientlyavailable.-By J.Berchmans Siboniyo

People waiting in the queue for fertilizer ©Iwacu

Tradesmen were barred from selling fertilizer in Gitega. Odette Kayitesi, the Minister of Agriculture is very clear about it. “How could we accept traders to sell fertilizers, when we know that the government has a project of providing it at a lower price”, she states.
The result is that crops are lost. And farmers predict a poor harvest this season.
The unavailability of fertilizer is a big issue in Itaba Commune. On a sunny Mondaymorning, hundreds of people are waiting tobeserved. Some of them receive the four bags of fertilizer they have paid for. Others are not so lucky. When the distributer says that from now on each person will only get one bag of fertilizer, a stampede ensues. Everyone wants to enter the store to take his share. The police try to stop them, but people persist. In response, the police begin beating people with their belts, telling them to form a queue. One officer takes his gun to shoot into the air.
“It’s unfair, we pay our money and still get beaten”,one of the people in the queuesays. “Look, it is almost November. We should have gotten the fertilizers in September. We didn’t plant because of the delay. And those who planted without itdon’t expect a good harvest. The plants are looking bad.”
“Iam here since 7AM”, somebody else in the queue complains. “And they are telling me that I will only get 25kg while I paid for 100kg. I don’t understand. Worse still, the policemen have beaten me. My right arm hurts.”
“The government should have allowed tradesmen to sell it at the market. That way at least the people who can afford it could have used fertilizer”, a man waiting in line says.
Béatrice Niyonzima, the administrator of Itaba commune says that the problem was caused by the payment delay in the Poste (a bank service). “The suppliers are pressured to hurry. We hope that everyone will be satisfied”, she states. She goes on saying that the fertilizer will help in the second harvest season of this year.