Burundi

Last updated: 30-01-2004

Location and area
Burundi is a landlocked republic in eastern Africa, bordered on the north by Rwanda, on the
east and south by Tanzania, and on the west by Lake Tanganyika and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. It has an area of 27,834 km2, of which 2,634 km2 are occupied by
Lake Tanganyika water. (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2002).
Topography
Burundi is mostly a hilly plateau region with an average elevation of about 1,500 m.
Elevations decrease gradually to the east and southeast. The narrow western margin of the
country, bordering the Ruzizi River and Lake Tanganyika, lies in the trough of the Rift
Valley. The main rivers are the Ruzizi , the Malagarasi, and the Ruvuvu. (Microsoft Encarta
Encyclopedia 2002).
Climate
The climate is tropical equatorial, moderated in most places by altitude. The average annual
temperature is 21 C on the plateau and 24 in the Rift Valley. The dry season lasts from May
to August. Savannah vegetation predominates in most of the country (Microsoft Encarta
Encyclopedia 2002).
Land use
In 1993 (before the war) the population had a mean density of 230 persons/km2
(Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye 1998). Firewood and charcoal meet more than 80% of the
country's energy needs, and agricultural by-products an estimated 11%. Petroleum products
account for 6% and hydropower covers only 1% of the total energy requirements. The high
population density is making fuelwood increasingly scarce and puts reforestation in
competition for land with agriculture (ESMAP 1992).
Wetlands
In Burundi the area covered by wetlands is about 1,120 km2 hectares, of which 56% (627
km2) is currently cultivated. (Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye 1998).
Peatlands
Swamps1 in the northeastern provinces of Muyinga, Ngozi and Ruyigi comprise 70% of the
total swamp area in the country (Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye 1998). A classification of
peatlands in Burundi is presented in Table 1.

A swamp, according to the Burundian approach, is an area with an organic soil containing 30-60 % organic
matter. Peat has an organic matter content of more than 60% dry weight (Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye 1998).

Table 1: Relations between soil and vegetation in swamps and peat-bogs (after Deuse 1969,
cited in Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye 1998)
soil

Low and
medium
altitude

swamp
Free water

Free water
border

Jusseva
Nymphaea
Potamogeton

Pycreus
mundtii
Cyperus
nudicaudis

Potamogeton

Jonale

peat
Alluvium
and gley

Drowned
peat

Peat with
superficial
water slick
Phragmites Cladium
Pycreus
mundtii
Cyperus
nudicaudis
Typha
Miscanthidium
Cyperus papyrus
Cyperus latifolius
Miscanthidi Jonale with
um
Sphagnum

High
altitude
Cyperus
denudatus
Cyperus
papyrus

Peat
periodically
inundated

Dry peat

Xyris
Sphagnum

Erica
Sphagnum
mildbraedii

Erica
Cyperus
denudatus
Syzygum
Erica

Kayengayenge & Ndayegamiye (1998) simplify this classification as follows:

1. Swamps of mostly Cyperus papyrus, characterized by high water
2. Swamps of Cyperus latifolius, with lower water levels, that are regularly cultivated in dry
seasons.
3. Spongy valleys, with shrubs and tall grasses, in which the water level never reaches above
the surface.
4. Grazing valleys, in which the water never covers the often very narrow valleys, that are
used for grazing during the dry season.
On the basis of a detailed inventory of peat deposits, carried out in 1974 by Ruston Technical
Services International for UNIDO, Bord na Mona (1985) estimates the total extent of
peatlands in Burundi to be 140 km2 with a total peat volume of 200 Mtonnes (residual
moisture content 30 %). 85 % of this volume is located in the north of the country along the
river Akanyaru, which separates Rwanda and Burundi (the Grand Marais), and its
tributaries. The remaining consists of numerous small valley peatlands throughout the country
at higher altitude. These include Gitanga (> 89 ha of peatland), Nyacijima (> 70 ha of
peatland), Gishubi (> 27 ha of peatland), Kashiro, and Kuruyange (> 20 ha) (UNDP/World
Bank 1985, Bord na Mona 1985). Further detailed resource survey has been in progress since
1974 without, however, changing the total area assessed.
Kivinen & Pakarinen (1981) mention the presence of peatland in Burundi but present no
estimates for its area.
Shrier (1985), referring to Bord na Mona (1984 =1985), uses the figure of 140 km2 for the
mire area and the peat resources in Burundi, Andriesse (1988) for the extent of organic
soils, Schneider & Schneider (1990) and Pfadenhauer et al. (1993) for the peatland area. Also
According to the interpreted World Soil Map (Van Engelen & Huting 2002) 878 km2 of
histosols exist in Burundi and 1570 km2 of gley soils.

Pajunen (1996b) mentions a peatland area of 140 km with peat resources of 1460 Mm
(110 Mt of total dry matter). According to Pajunen (1996b) the Akanyaru swamp complex
covers 123 km and the Nyamuswaga swamp 13.40 km.
Other potential peatland areas in Burundi include the Upper Kagera River area (shallow lakes
and floodplain, 340 km2, shared with Rwanda and Tanzania) and the Ruzizi River (floodplain
and swamps, shared with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo) (cf. HowardWiliams & Thompson 1985). Thompson (1985) estimates the real extent of reed swamps in
Rwanda and Burundi to be approximately 940 km (cited in Shier 1985). According to Markov
et al. (1988) peatlands are located in the southeastern parts of the country.
Proven reserves are some 55 million MT, predominantly situated in the lowland peatlands
(see Table 2).

Table 2: Proven peat reserves of Burundi (1,000 tonnes2 at 30 % moisture content) (from
ESMAP 1992 after ONATOUR).

hig
hlan
d
bog
s

Gitanga

Gishubi
Kuruyanga
Kashiru
Nyacijaima (Ijenda)

1984
570

1989
550

170
210
10
15

131
173
0
15

subtotal
low
land
bog
s

Nyamuswaga

975
2,300

869
2,300

Akanyaru*) Byongwe **)

20,000
19,998
Ndurumi ***)
14,400
14,400
Nyavyamo
17,600
17,600
subtotal
54,300
54,298
55,275
55,167
Total
*)

According to ESMAP (1982) the three side valleys of Akanyura (Buyongwe, Ndurumu, and Kirundo) contain
about 30% of all peat in the Akanyaru River Basin)
**)
About 250,000 tonnes (1 %) can be extracted as highland peat.
***)
Densely populated area, highly cultivated, no current peat activities.

Markov et al. (1988) estimate the peat resources of Burundi on 500 Mtonnes, a figure also
used by Gati (1992), i.e. a volume 10 x higher than the data presented in table 2.

The original data were expressed in MT = metric tonnes. This could be confused with Mtonnes (Mega-tonnes
= 1,000,000 MT.

Mire and peatland losses

In order to promote the use of indigenous peat in all sectors of the economy, a parastatal peat
company ONATOUR (Office Nationale de la Tourbe) was founded in 1977 especially to
provide peat for a World Bank nickel exploration project. Since this project never
materialized, ONATOUR started looking for other users of peat. (ESMAP 1992).
Fuel peat production is practised since 1977 in Kashiro (on 6 ha), soon followed by
Kuruyange (on 20 ha) and Gishubi (on 22 ha), whereas peat extraction started in Gitanga (on
2 ha) and Buyongwe in 1984 (Bord na Mona 1985, UNDP/World Bank 1985, Table 3). The
Kashiro peatland was already exhausted in 1985 and reclaimed for agriculture (cf. Table 2
and Table 3). The Nyacijaima peatland has a too high ash content for fuel peat extraction
(UNDP/World Bank 1985).
Peat sales increased over the years and stabilized in the 1980s to approximately 1000
Mtonnes per month, of which 80% is consumed by the army (ESMAP 1992, table 3).

Table 3: Annual peat extraction and consumption (tonnes) in Burundi (from ESMAP 1992
after ONATOUR)
year

1977

Kashiru
Kuruyange
Gishubi
Gitanga
Buyongwe

42

1978
1,301

1979
1,759
944

1980
2,079
944
511

1981
1,893
1,155
3,387

1982
1,513
5,262
4,124

1983
2,234
4,891
6,168

1984
1,518
3,559
5,734
3,254
1,348

1985
711
2,305
3,184
2,713
1,540

1986
3,411
4,760
3,879

1987
5,212
4,786
7,532
890

1988
4,396
2,642
4,161
1,314

1989
4,553
4,033
4,312

Production
42 1,301 2,703 3,534 6,435 10,899 13,293 14,065 10,261 13,590 17,530 12,089 14,212
*)
42
1,301 2,703 3,534 5,570 6,072 7,852 7,634 8,237 12,203 12,000 12,000 12,500
Sales
*)
The fact that peat extraction is higher than peat consumption reflects the losses as dust during transport and
handling (normally some 10%) and poor planning.

Most peat extraction takes place from the highland peatlands, of which approximately 74% of
the area (170 ha) is under exploitation. The lowland peatlands provide less than 10% (1,300
MT in 1989) of the total extracted peat volume (ESMAP 1992).
10% of the Nyamuswaga peatland was under cultivation in 1982 but this may soon increase
due to the high population density in nearby areas (ESMAP 1982).
As in the vicinity of Akanyaru and Nyamuswaga population density exceeds 200
inhabitants/km, large areas of these peatlands are used for agriculture, a use that is expanding
because of the high population growth Pajunen (1996b). The northern part of Akanyaru is still
in natural condition (Pajunen 1996b) and covered with Papyrus vegetation (cf. Bord na Mona
1985).
Still to be checked:
Bonnefille, R., Riollet, G., G. Buchet. 1991. Nouvelle squence pollinique d'une tourbire de
la crte Zare-Nil (Burundi). Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 67:315-330.
Jolly, D., R. Bonnefille, R. 1991. Histoire et dynamique d'un sondage holocne de la
Kuruyange (Burundi, Afrique Centrale). Palaeoecology of Africa 22: 265-274, Balkema
Rotterdam

Jolly, D., Bonnefille, R., M., Roux. 1994. Numerical interpretation of high resolution
Holocene pollen record from Burundi. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
109, 357-370.
Mire Kuruyange in BURUNDI HIGHLANDS EAST OF lake Tanganyika (3 35 S, 29 41 E,
2.4 x 0.2 km , 2000 m, 11.84 m of peat, 9300 14C years old.
Last 1000 years aremissing because upper layer of peat has been exploited (Jolly et al. 1994).
Jolly, D. & Bonnefille, R. (1991) Histoire et dynamique du marcage tropical de Ndumuru
(Burundi): donnes polliniques. Rev. Palaeobotany & Palynology 75: 133-151.
2 43 E, 29 58 E, 1367 m, w of Lake Victoria), 13 m of peat, 12.9-13 m deep: 2780 BP
periodically inundated vegetation dominated by Cyperus papurys and Dryopteris gongylodes
Bonnefille, R. & Riollet, G. (1988) The Kashiru pollen sequence (Burundi): Palaeoclimatic
implications for the last 40,000 yr B.P. in Tropical Africa. Quaternary Research 30: 19-35
Jolly, D. 1993. Evolution et dynamique des cosystmes du Burundi. Pollen et statistique.
Thse Univ. Aix-Marseille II, 141p.
Kalmari, A. 1982. Industrial peat program in Burundi carried out by Ekono. Seminar on Peat
for Energy Use, Bandung, Indonesia.
Pajunen, H. 1999. Geology of peat deposits in Rwanda and Burundi. Africa Geoscience
Review 6: 53 64.
Roche, E. & Bikwemu, G. (1989) Paleoenvironmental change on the Zaire-Nile ridge in
Burundi; the last 20,000 years: An interpretation of palynological data from the Kashiru Core,
Ijenda, Burundi. Mahaney, W.C. (ed): Quaternary and environmental research on East
African Mountains: 231-242. Rotterdam