More than 26, 000 Coffee Trees Ravaged by Wildfire

A field of the coffee trees

The plantations which were destroyed by fire are located in the northern provinces of Burundi. According to Joseph Ntirabampa, the chairman of the National Confederation of Associations of Coffee farmers in Burundi (CNAC), bushfires damaged coffee plantations in various provinces especially Karuzi where 1, 995 coffee trees were burned while the remaining others were set ablaze in Kirundo and Ngozi. “Up to now, about 26,000 coffee plants caught fire”, he said.

According to him, children who pass by the coffee plantations with fire and people who collect honey from the trees bearing hives close to these plantations are the main causes of these bushfires.

Ntirabampa indicated that his organization is working with the administration to educate coffee farmers. They will, in turn, educate their children and population to change their behavior. “They must be aware that it is strictly forbidden to go near mulched coffee plantations with fire”, he states.

The same view is shared by Calenie Mbarushimana, the Governor of Karuzi Province. She states she is aware of the burnt coffee plants and indicates that the sensitization campaign is already underway to eradicate the phenomenon.

“Everybody knows the consequences of burning coffee plants. Authors are punished accordingly and parents are charged in place of their children if the latter are found guilty”, he adds.

Coffee is the main export crop in Burundi beside tea and cotton.