In Burundi, Lake Nagitamo and its watersheds is one of the components of the protected water landscapes of the North of the country located in the Bugesera Natural Region, Kirundo Province. This region, once considered the breadbasket of the country due to its high food production, has been hit by repeated periods of famine for over a decade. This food crisis was mainly due to a sharp reduction in agricultural yields as a result of climatic hazards (long dry seasons alternating with heavy rainfall causing floods), poor land management and irrational exploitation of natural resources.
Since 2011, with the mission of reversing the trend by accompanying the change of practices of local communities, Inades-Formation Burundi has invested in the promotion of good agricultural practices and in the protection of natural resources, particularly Lake Nagitamo and its watersheds. The establishment of the Community Based Organizations (CBOs) has been an entry point for Inades-Formation Burundi to channel its interventions by directly involving the beneficiaries for a good ownership of the actions. In addition, for the success of its mission, Inades-Formation Burundi has associated other key actors, among others the local administration, the deconcentrated technical services namely: the Provincial Office of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock “PBPEAE”, the Burundian Office for the Protection of the Environment “OBPE”.
To strengthen previous achievements and contribute to the implementation of the program “Transition to a Peasant Agroecology for Food Sovereignty, TAPSA” with the support of the Catholic Committee against Hunger and for Development “CCFD-Terre Solidaire” and the French Development Agency “AFD”, Inades-Formation Burundi has been deploying its activities on the same territory of Kigoma since March 2018.
The results achieved in the protection of Nagitamo Lake and its watersheds are the result of the effectiveness of the local governance approach used, which is a participatory and inclusive approach, and the focus on the involvement of all stakeholders. Other approaches and techniques have been used by others without success.
It is within this framework that Inades-Formation Burundi is publishing a capitalization document of the first phase of the TAPSA program on natural resource management.
This book is intended to facilitate any interested party to duplicate the experience for other lakes not yet protected. The highlights of the Lake Nagitamo protection process that are included in this capitalization document will serve as a reference during the implementation of the second phase of TAPSA for the period 2022-2026, especially for the protection of Lake Narungazi located in the commune of Ntega in Kirundo province.
