Environmental Issues

Let's think green for a moment... or brown, since that is that color that Burundi is fast becoming, unfortunately. Livestock overgrazing and expansion of agriculture into marginal lands has caused serious soil erosion. Now, for the greenies (like me) who have no idea what soil erosion is, I'll tell you: soil erosion is actually a natural process in which water, wind, or tillage remove top soil (sand, dirt, rocks, etc.) and deposit it elsewhere. The loss of this nutrient-rich and water-holding soil layer reduces the overall soil quality. This isn't necessarily a problem if the wind and water are removing soil at roughly the same rate that new soil is created. Unfortunately, this isn't happening in Burundi.

Another environmental problem in Burundi is deforestation (or, the uncontrolled cutting of trees for fuel). Soil erosion has caused a scarcity of decent farmland, contributing to an increased demand for viable agricultural land. Burundi is an extremely small and densely populated country, however, so there is very little land to work with as it is. So the individual subsistence farmers and their families, as well as urban industries, decided that the trees just had to go...

But it gets worse! Deforestation has destroyed a number of wildlife habitats, threatening the indigenous populations of most species in Burundi. For example, gorillas and elephants are now extinct in Burundi due to loss of habitat (I mean, have you ever heard of an ape that didn't live in a tree? Didn't think so.).

However, not all news from this tiny country in East Africa is doom and gloom. Burundi is actually filthy-stinkin' rich in regards to natural resources. Petroleum, nickel, copper, and gold - among other resources - are abundant here. But (and there's always a "but" when we're talking about Burundi), the tribal violence and civil unrest in my country have sucked the state coffers dry, leaving very little to invest in harvesting these resources, and international companies are hesitant to put their dollars in Burundi when there is so much government embezzlement and civil unrest. It would be an unwise investment. But, gosh, can you imagine how much our economy would improve if we could convince the world to invest in our resources? We're sitting on a wealth of untapped opportunity!

So, what's to be done? Well, we can counter soil erosion and deforestation with a more concentrated effort at land conservation. Crop rotation, careful monitoring of livestock grazing (so, maybe rotating cattle from one grazing area to another), careful management of irrigation, and only partially harvesting forests (for example, alternating trees or creating a reserve) could go a long ways to rehabilitating the environment here. We could even reintroduce gorillas and elephants to the country when their habitats are more secure. As for our abundant natural resources, a more stable political and civil situation would make Burundi more attractive to investors for a number of different projects, not just concerning petroleum and gold.

It really all comes back to the tribal warfare, doesn't it? I think simply loving our neighbors would solve a lot of the problems in my country.

Information taken from The Encyclopedia of Earth, http://www.eoearth.org/article/Burundi

Faces of Burundi

A quick look at my country and some of what it has to offer...

Armed Youth

Bujumbura. This is the largest city in my country.

House-building in rural Burundi. It's a family affair.

Ritual drummers.

Burundian mother and children.

Muddy water. Clean water is much harder to get in Burundi than just walking to a faucet. Most Burundians must draw from wells and carry the water to their homes, oftentimes more than once a day.

Pierre Nkurunziza, the current president of Burundi after decades of tribal warfare and violence.

Sunset at Ruvubu Reserve, the largest national park in Burundi.

Tea fields. Tea is on of Burundi's main exports.

Burundian women.

We've Been Compromised!

When you think of government corruption, you probably imagine politicians who smudge the truth, media outlets that pick and choose what stories to tell, and sex scandals in Washington. Obviously, these aren't constructive elements in any government, but we ought to consider ourselves lucky that this is all the corruption we have to deal with. In Burundi, things are much worse.

A Transparency International (TI) survey ranked Burundi as the most corrupt country in East Africa for the second year in a row because of the government's susceptibility to bribery (37.9% prevalence) and graft (unscrupulous use of authority entirely for personal gain). Residents of Burundi say that bribes - kitu kidogo, or "something small"  in Kiswahili -  are demanded of them to use most services. None of these incidents are ever reported.

Most of this corruption stems from two problems: the ethnic conflict between the Hutu and the Tutsi and the country's general economic uncertainty.

Ethnic Conflict

The Hutu and the Tutsi are two of the three main ethnic groups in Central and East Africa (the third are the Twa). Although there were understandable conflicts throughout their long history, the two parties were generally not hostile to one another until the arrival of German and Belgian colonialists exacerbated existing tensions. Belgian census records documented that the Tutsi tended to be more economically and politically dominant than the Hutu, who were a poorer and more agrarian people. This led Belgium to extend special privileges and responsibilities to the Tutsi, thereby widening the already formidable gap between the Tutsi and the more populous Hutu parties.

When Burundi declared independence from Belgium in 1962, an attempt was made to return to the old monarchical system of government, but a coup staged by the Tutsi elite in 1966 ensured 25 years of military regimes in which great inequality was exercised between the two parties. These militant governments were put to an end with the democratic elections in 1993. At last Burundi looked to be headed in a positive direction. But these elections proved to be the spark that ignited the flame of ethnic warfare. 


On October 21, 1993, a group of Tutsi extremists assassinated the newly elected Hutu president, Melchoir Ndadaye. Mayhem followed. Violence broke out between the two parties in a massive civil war that lasted until 2005, resulting in the deaths of 300,000 Burundians. Although technically a ceasefire was called and attempts have been made at reconciliation and growth, tensions are still extremely high, especially in politics.

Economic Uncertainty


Burundi's economy sits in a precarious situation, with businesses hesitant to trade with and invest in Burundi due to the high possibility of violence and the prevalence of embezzlement. But with the economy lagging and a serious lack of interested trade and business, politicians are extremely susceptible to bribes and pay-offs.

All in all, Burundi's level of government corruption is through the roof despite efforts to smother it. I don't even know where to begin to try solving this... Gosh, why can't everyone just be celestial?

What's a girl to do?

So, originally, I was planning on researching education in Burundi today, but a rogue sentence in an article I was looking at directed me to the state of women in Burundi. And, unfortunately, I don't have anything glowing to report. Culturally, women have been subordinate to men for as long as people can remember (much like the rest of the world until recent times). A website I looked at said that women in Burundi, although respected for their power to create life, were regarded as little better than children and were expected to stay in the home and immediately defer to the wishes of any adult male. In more recent times, however, this cultural tick has evolved into something lethal. Amid the widespread social armament and political unrest between ethnic groups, violence toward women has become a real problem.

In an assessment conducted by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), it was determined that violence against women has actually increased since the ceasefire in 2004. It's almost as though violent rebels simply turned to a different (though certainly not new) outlet for their aggression. Burundian women interviewed by the UNDP said that rape and sexual assault had always existed in Burundi but that the scale of the problem had dramatically increased in time with ethnic conflicts and violent rebellions. Now, such assaults are practically commonplace, as most women said that armed robberies almost always ended in rape and that women could not tend their fields without being approached by an armed intruder. To make matters worse, it is the victim of rape, not the attacker, who bears the brunt of the blame. A woman who confesses to being raped is likely faced with exile. A resulting pregnancy is looked on with disgust, and often the mother abandons the child or tries to abort it (usually without professional medical assistance), leading to maternal mortality.

Widows, too, have been greatly affected. Most lost their husbands in showers of ethnic gunfire, leaving them with children to tend to and no means to support them. Property passes only from father to son, leaving widowed families with nothing to survive on. This, in turn, causes women to flee to towns and cities where they inevitably fall in with prostitution in order to survive.

I was absolutely dumb-founded when I learned about all of this. I've always known that these kinds of things happen in the world, but the fact that Burundian women are so victimized and so often, it just knocked the wind out of me. I want to fix things so my sisters in Burundi don't have to live in perpetual fear, but I just don't know what to do. The problem is complex; gender inequality is deeply rooted in Burundian culture and disarmament of the populace is not very successfully being attempted. It's difficult to change a mindset that has existed for as long as anyone can remember and no one wants to give up their guns for fear of being caught unprepared by an assailant (usually neighbors). And yet while weapons continue to be widely distributed, women cannot raise their voices and decry their situation for fear of reprisal.

I suppose a greater government crack-down on disarmament could help the situation, but too much government involvement could spark another rebellion or a relapse of ethnic warfare. More women in power could also be an influential factor in ending gender violence but women are so removed from politics as it as that I fear putting a women in a seat of power may do more harm than good. Wow, my country is really a mess right now.

What's a girl to do?

Let's Talk Numbers

Economically speaking, my country is practically in the toilet. Burundi had the second-lowest GDP per capita income in the world in 2011 (the lowest was the Democratic Republic of the Congo), totaling a whopping $279 US. This number tells us that the standard of living in Burundi is among the poorest in the world. Most of the average population gets by day to day by subsistence farming, which means that they only farm enough to support themselves and their families. There's very little left over to export and trade with. Even if there was, though, getting goods out of Burundi is enough of a trial that it would probably discourage further plans to export. Viable transportation networks in Burundi are practically nonexistent, making successful trade an anomaly. Burundi is completely landlocked and, aside from a few road networks (only some of which are paved and most of which are in disrepair), there isn't an economical option for shipping goods out of the country. There are only 8 airports (and only one of them is paved), very few shipment opportunities through waterways like rivers and Lake Tanganyika, and there are no railways (although plans are underway to construct a railroad system into Rwanda). Access to sea ports is virtually nonexistent.

Looking at these numbers really got my mind going. Poor transportation seems to be at the root of these economic problems (although political unrest and government corruption certainly play a part as well). How could we possibly improve transportation networks so that goods can start flowing in and out of Burundi? One thought I had was that Burundi could ship goods to Tanzania through water transportation. If they could strike an economical deal with Tanzania that would allow Burundian goods through to sea ports - where they can then be shipped out to anywhere in the world - than it might boost the economy. Of course, the opportunity costs of this proposal probably outweigh the benefits because, really, is Tanzania going to let Burundi have access to their ports without charging an abominable fee? Probably not. It's times like these when I wish our world were more... well, celestial. If people could care less about profit and more about their neighbors, less countries might be below the poverty line. But I guess that goes against the rationality of self-interest, huh?

Well, I've got one Developing Dollar to spend. Let's see what I can do with it.

Burundi's Top 10s

I was curious about the entertainment culture of my country so I tried to find a few books and movies that really showcased Burundi.

Books
1. "Life and Violence: A People's Story of Burundi" by Peter Ulvin
2. "From Bloodshed to Hope In Burundi: Our Embassy Years During Genocide" by Ambassador Robert Krueger
3. "Burundi: The Biography of a Small African Country" by Nigel Watt
4. "Burundi: Ethnic Conflict and Genocide" by Rene' Lemarchand
5. "Strength in What Remains" by Tracy Kidder
6. "Gender and Genocide in Burundi: The Search for Spaces of Peace In the Great Lakes Region" by Patricia  Daley
7. "Historical Dictionary of Burundi" by Ellen K. Eggers
8. "The Burundi Ethnic Massacres, 1988" by David Ress
9. "Fear in Bongoland: Burundi Refugees in Urban Tanzania"
10. "Burundi, (Enchantment of Africa)" by Allan Carpenter

Movies
1. "Bigger Plans"
2. "Nothing's The Same"
3. "Reveal Yourself"
4. "Abuse"
5. "Kivumvi: Basket Boy"
6. "Burundi Women Take Charge"
7. "Distant Drums of Burundi"
8. "Pigfoot"
9. "Gito, L'ingrat" (French)
10. "Kamenge, Northern Quarters"

Many of these movies are short films, no longer than fifteen minutes, and can be found at burundifilmcenter.org. They reveal much about the concerns and culture of the average Burundian citizen.

Globalization 2.0

After viewing Thomas Friedman's lecture at MIT on globalization, it got me thinking about what level of globalization Burundi is in right now. For those who haven't seen this lecture, Thomas Friedman defines today's modern world in terms of how globalized we've become. There are three levels thus far: first, Globalization 1.0, meaning that nations are interacting with nations and coming out of their isolationist bubbles. This level of globalization began in 1492 when Columbus touched down in the Americas, sparking a new age of national interaction. Globalization 2.0 began around the 1800s as businesses and corporations began interacting on a global level independent of their individual countries. An example of Globalization 2.0 would be the East India Trading Company which conducted business in multiple different countries. Finally, in the year 2000, we entered the third phase of globalization: Globalization 3.0. In this phase, we're interacting with people at an individual level. This was made possible by advances in technology such as the launching of Netscape.

To begin, I'd say that Burundi definitely qualifies for Globalization 1.0. In today's increasingly globally-unified world, a country would have to go out of their way to defy this first phase of globalization. We as nations have begun to rely more heavily on each other regarding trade, politics, the green campaign, and other issues. But speaking specifically on Burundi, we've been interacting with other nations for quite a while now. We were conquered and colonized by Imperial Germany in the 1880s along with our neighbors Rwanda and part of Tanzania. When Germany was defeated in World War I, the League of Nations gave the previous German territories to Belgium, creating a new Belgian colonial empire called Ruanda-Urundi. We existed beneath this control until July 1, 1962, when we declared independence from Belgium and joined the United Nations two months later. So, I think we've passed phase one of globalization.

But I think Globalization 2.0 is probably where we peak. We're conducting business with other nations - not a great deal, but some - and there are at the very least three large foreign corporations actively at work in Burundi (afribiz.info). The World Bank Group (doingbusiness.org) shows that the potential for doing business in Burundi is up eight points from 2011.

And that's about where we're at. I hesitate to award my country a globalization level any higher than 2.0 because the potential for individual to individual interaction between Burundians and people from different nations is extremely low. Only about 0.03% of the population has access to internet and only about 6% of Burundians live in cities where they might have contact with foreign visitors.

I wonder what I could do to help my adopted country catch up with the rest of our globalized world. I've got one "Developing Dollar" to spend on us, so I better use it right. Any suggestions, folks?

Developing Burundi

My developing C-Map. Still a work in progress, but I'm seeing some interesting concepts arise.

The Basics

It's not an easy task to jump into a new country. Sometimes I feel like there's just so much to learn and so little time to do it that I get a bit overwhelmed. That being said, I thought it might be best to start with the basics, to begin at square one and build up from there.

First, I wanted to know where the name of my adopted country came from. What can it's etymology tell me about it's origins? The name of Burundi, as it turns out, originates from the Rundi language and means "Land of the Rundi-Speakers." This name was adopted in 1962 upon the region's independence from Belgian Ruanda-Urundi. I found that to be rather interesting. As I delved further into research about the former Belgian colony, I learned that Burundi and Rwanda were basically joined at the hip throughout their history and yet Burundi often found itself in the shadow of Rwanda. I still have a lot to learn about this relationship and I'll post more as I find more information on it.

Something else I wanted to know were the goals my country has set for itself. These are the ones I was able to find.

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
2. Acheive universal primary education.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women.
4. Reduce child mortality.
5. Improve maternal health.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases.
7. Ensure environmental stability.
8. Develop a global partnership for development.
(www.indexmundi.com)

These seem like good goals for any developing country. I still don't know much about Burundi so I don't feel properly qualified to pass judgement or form opinions of my own, but I hope that by the end of this romp through my adopted country that I will be able to state with confidence whether or not these goals are plausible for the future.

And My Adopted Country Is... Burundi!

Well, ladies and gentleman of Bro. Wilson's FDINT202 class, it's finally happened! I've been adopted into the country of Burundi! I thought I'd share my initial reaction to the news so that I can look back at the end of the semester and see how far I've come. Please be patient with my ignorance. :) Also, if you're reading this, Jay Leno, don't you dare put this video on your show! You've been warned...