Early warning and response system

Within the main objective of promoting food security in the country, Promoting Agriculture, Climate and Trade linkages in EAC Project (PACT EAC) urges to set up a new system to inform farmers very early.-By Diane Uwimana

Godefroid Maninkunda: “Agriculture seems to have been abandoned to farmers while it is a continuing activity.”©Iwacu

“The meteorological forecasting is always published, but it doesn’t reach farmers. So, working in synergy is very important to support farmers in the context of preventing natural disasters”, states Léon Ndikunkiko, from ADISCO (Support for Integral Development at Hills’ Solidarity) Organization. Furthermore, he indicates that the lack of information about how to deal with the natural disasters causes several obstacles. “Farmers don’t benefit from credit banks due to the lack of confidence. In fact, farmers don’t have any agricultural insurance as a guarantee”, he regrets. For him, it would be better to work in cooperatives in order to be well- informed. According to Clement Ndikumasabo, Provincial Director of Agriculture and Livestock in Muyinga Province, considering the way farmers endure after natural disasters, they have to get a daily meteorological forecasting to be prepared in advance. “These recent days, there are floods in different areas in the country; they make a lot of victims and destroy a great deal of belongings. Fields are not spared, too. For avoiding starvation, we should work hand in hand to think about how to prevent natural disasters and inform farmers very early”, points out Ndikumasabo. According to Godefroid Nshimirimana, Researcher at IGEBU (Geographical Institute of Burundi), the issue