Africa economy
Women from the Great Lakes countries are committed to a greener economy
Audio 02:20
View of the city of Bukavu in eastern DRC on the shores of Lake Kivu, located in the Great Lakes region (Illustration image).
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By: Denise Maheho
2 mins
Women entrepreneurs from the countries of the Great Lakes region are committed to promoting a greener economy.
They come from Rwanda, Burundi and the DRC.
Indeed, these entrepreneurs presented some of their initiatives last month in Lubumbashi during the meeting of the platform of French-speaking cities on equality and climate change.
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From our correspondent in Lubumbashi,
In Burundi, almost 90% of women work in agriculture, according to the FAO.
They produce beans, potatoes, maize.
In recent years, Burundi has been the victim of floods and landslides.
To cope with these disasters caused by climate change, women farmers have developed certain techniques.
“
Now you can see anti-erosion hedges on all the hills.
Women make contour lines.
All of this is aimed at mitigating the effects of climatic hazards that cause landslides
,” explains Anonciata Senda Zirasa, representative of Burundian women at the meeting in Lubumbashi.
In the south of the DRC, in Lubumbashi, women entrepreneurs have also turned to the green economy.
This is the case of Aimerance Nzuzi, manager of Aimy Busness.
It produces ecological coal from household waste.
It thus contributes to the protection of the forest.
“
To meet the charcoal needs of 200 households, for example, you have to cut down at least 2,000 trees.
And if we, Aimy Busness, can provide clean charcoal to 200 households, we will protect 2,000 trees.
It is true that it will not stop the excessive cutting of wood, but it will decrease
”.
Marie Claire Yaya, also Congolese, runs the LUGO Farm, which specializes in agro-processing and raising awareness of ecological issues.
"
Me, I started a center to teach people how to develop sustainable agriculture, how to combine agroforestry and other crops so that the community can find itself economically, financially while making the carbon stock that nature has necessary in order to preserve the environment
"
Preserving the environment also requires good management of waste, a source of pollution.
For two years, Exact Congo has been involved in this sector.
“
In the commune of Kamalondo, we targeted 600 households.
Then, we trained them on waste sorting and we gave each household three garbage bags,
explains Elvire Nseya, director of Exact Congo
.
Also, we have initiated women in the transformation of degradable waste into organic fertilizer and in incineration procedures for other waste.
»
The women of the Great Lakes region lack neither ideas nor energy to advance the cause of the environment in an area where ecological problems continue to worsen.
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ground floor
Burundi
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