The cotton management company (COGERCO) launched the 2019-2020 cotton planting campaign on Tuesday, December 24 in Nyamitanga in Buganda commune in the province of Cibitoke. The ceremonies were enhanced by the presence of the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock and the General Manager of this company. According to these authorities, Burundi intends to revitalize the cotton sector to overcome the dependence on textiles and clothing from outside.

While thanking agricultural officials for the importance they attached to cotton cultivation, the representative of cotton farmers, Mr. Mutankana Onesphore, asked them to make appropriate fertilizers, spray products and pumps available. He also asked them to increase the price per kg of cotton.

Taking the floor, the Director General of COGERCO, Majambere Gustave encouraged cotton farmers to extend this cultivation in their properties and announced on this occasion that Burundi intends to revitalize the cotton-textile-clothing sector.

The Director General of COGERCO recognizes that cotton production has declined drastically over the years following the significant decrease in the reserves that were allocated to cotton cultivation. As an example, he explained that cotton cultivation covered 9,800 ha in 1993, whereas today, the cotton area is only 3,000 ha. Opportunity to ask the State to have its reserves that have been plundered returned to COGERCO and to put in place a law that protects the properties of this company.

Gustave Majambere said that the company thus intends to increase arable land from year to year to meet the concern of increasing cotton production.

He cited other factors that will come into play in increasing cotton production, including good quality fertilisers. The Director General of COGERCO specified that the Company is working with ISABU and FOMI to set up an economically profitable dose that will be made available to cotton farmers so that they can have sufficient production.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock, Mr. Ndorimana Emmanuel, for his part, indicated that the reserves that belonged to COGERCO and that were plundered must return to this company, affirming also that some areas have already returned to the hands of COGERCO. He also announced that the line ministry intends to expand cotton cultivation in Ruyigi, Cankuzo and Rutana provinces.

Emmanuel Ndorimana said that the State of Burundi has put in place a national strategy document to revitalize the cotton sector, which contains many projects in favor of cotton cultivation. He added that cotton farmers have a big role to play in the implementation and success of this strategy. And to ask them to redouble their efforts so that the cotton sector is economically profitable.

Finally, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of the Environment, Agriculture and Livestock gave the governors of Bubanza and Cibitoke a manual on a national strategy for revitalizing the cotton sector so that the projects contained in this document could be popularized on a large scale.

On the sidelines of the ceremonies, COGERCO awarded incentive prizes to cotton farmers who performed well in relation to production. As an incentive, 20 cotton farmers each received a 7-liter can of cottonseed oil and a loincloth, a bonus that, according to the Director General of COGERCO, will be able to encourage other farmers to work much harder to increase production.