IMPROVING AFRICAN AGRICULTURE SPENDING ... - Africa Adapt

IMPROVING BURUNDI’S PUBLIC AGRICULTURE SPENDING
Under the fertilizer subsidy programme, the government currently sets the price at Buf 900 per kg,
compared to the market price of Buf 1,400 per kg – thus a 36 per cent subsidy. In 2012, the government
planned to purchase around 5,000 tonnes of fertilizer. According to interviews with MINAGRIE staff,
farmers access an average of 100 kgs of fertilizer, and around 60,000 farmers receive the subsidised
fertilizer – this represents only around 1 in 25 farmers. The programme to multiply and distribute cassava
and banana stems to farmers has been inspired by the highly destructive cassava mosaic disease, which
has affected much of the country.
The government also provides certain subsidies to the tea and cotton sectors. The Burundi Tea Office
(BTO), a parastatal corporation whose Director General is appointed by the President, has a budget
separate to MINAGRIE and supports tea growers by supplying fertilizers and tea seedlings, by purchasing all
farmers’ tea crop at a fixed price and by providing technical training and.
Table 12: The BTO’s support to tea farmers
Year 2009 Year 2010 Year 2011
Fertilizers distributed to tea farmers 800 tons 1,150 tons 1,900 tons
Price of fertilizers to tea farmers in Buf/kg 500 500 500
Subsidies of fertilizers in Buf/kg 800 800 800
Seedlings distributed( pieces) 864,000 576,000 2,400,000
Price of seedlings in Buf/piece 150 150 150
Subsidies of seedlings in Buf 100% 100% 100%
Source: Figures supplied by the agronomic management of BTO
In cotton, Burundi’s parastatal cotton company, COMACO, supports growers by purchasing outputs at a
fixed price and by providing cotton seedlings, fertilizers and pesticides.
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