The National Peat Office (ONATOUR) is preparing to sell carbonized peat-based briquettes. This will boost the clientele of this office. Otherwise, ONATOUR is working in the production of peat. And compared to the peat deposits estimated at 57 million tons that Burundi has, plus or minus 0.73% of the reserves is the quantity already exploited.

ONATOUR is working in the production of peat. According to Jinny Ange Ndayiteho, head of production at ONATOUR, peat production varies from year to year. From 2014 to 2015, production was 11,367 tons, 3,967 tons from 2015 to 2016, 9,540 tons from 2016 to 2017, 13,157 tons from 2017 to 2018, 11,800 tons from 2018 to 2019, 15,248 tons from 2019 to 2019, 15,248 tons from 2019 to 2020, 15,248 tons from 2019 to 2020, and 955 tons from 2019 to 2020, and 12,955 tons from 2021 to 2022. According to him, the reasons for this situation is that this office is limited by demand. If demand is high, production increases accordingly. And this is justified by ONATOUR's clientele, which is still derisory.

FDN, ONATOUR Loyal Customer

According to him, ONATOUR's main customer is the National Defence Force (FDN), which consumes an estimated quantity of peat of more than 10,000 tons per year. In addition, some industries have preferred to use peat to fuel their boilers. Examples include FOMI and BUCECO. However, Ndayiteho laments that the quantities used by these industries are minimal. And to allow its customers to easily obtain supplies, the cost of peat is affordable. It is fixed at 245 fBu excluding VAT.

Ndayiteho says that ONATOUR's objective is to sell briquettes to households across the country for use in cooking food. We also want to supply these briquettes to bars, restaurants and bakeries that use a large quantity of wood. However, he points out that this is not possible, as it has been found that the briquettes that are currently being produced still emit smoke that contains carbon dioxide that is harmful to human health.

A low exploitation rate

To reverse the trend and boost the financial health of ONATOUR, Ndayiteho said that this office is working to produce charred peat-based briquettes that will be used by households instead of charcoal. These are briquettes that do not emit smoke. A study on the production of these briquettes was completed in December 2021.

ONATOUR then intends to acquire a new machine that will produce carbonized peat-based briquettes. In this sense, production will be very bulky, because even households that use charcoal in cooking food will be served.

Ndayiteho says that ONATOUR is able to meet all demand, because Burundi is full of millions of tons of peat, a fuel that could validly replace charcoal. But it is clear that it is underused when, according to experts, it is ecological and could help solve the deforestation problem. More than 416,159 tons of peat have been exploited by ONATOUR since 1977, i.e. more or less 0.73% of the reserves.

Ndayiteho reports that Burundi has peat deposits estimated at 57 million tons concentrated in the marshes of the Nyamuswaga, Gisozi and Matana plateaus as well as in the AKANYARU valley. Currently, four peat exploitation sites are in operation. These include the Gisozi construction site, one of the largest, Gitanga, which straddles the municipalities of Matana and Ryansoro, the Matana construction site and the Buyongwe construction site located between the municipalities of Kiremba, Nyamurenza and Marangara, located between the municipalities of Kiremba, Nyamurenza and Marangara in the province of Ngozi.

Note that the production of peat in the world is increasing year by year and people are becoming more and more adherent to it. Research indicates that in the future, many countries will start producing peat. And the largest exporters of peat in the world are among others Canada, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands and Ireland.