Bururi–Matana : farmers cry scam after three months without ANAGESSA payment

SOS Médias Burundi

Bururi, September 21, 2025 – Corn producers in the Bururi and Matana districts, in Burunga province in southern Burundi, are still waiting for the money for their harvest delivered to the National Agency for the Management of Strategic Food Stocks (ANAGESSA). Three months of delays, mounting debts, and children deprived of school : impatience is growing, while the agency is citing slow banking procedures.

In the small east African nation, corn farmers are denouncing an unsustainable situation. “I was hoping to be paid on time. Today, my children still don’t go to school,” says a farmer, unable to buy school supplies for his children.

Debts and fear of prosecution

Many farmers had taken out loans to finance their crops. Now, they say they are being strangled by microfinance institutions.
“The Coopec (Savings and Credit Cooperative) is constantly asking me for my money, which I don’t have. I’m even afraid of being sued,” explains Joseph Ntahimpera, a farmer in Matana.

Some are even considering demanding the return of their crops if ANAGESSA continues to delay payments.

ANAGESSA blames the banks’ slowness

Interviewed by SOS Médias Burundi, Éric Nduwayezu, responsible for monitoring the agency’s activities in the affected districts, acknowledges the delay but asks producers to be patient :
“Payments take time because they must first go through the banks. The file is currently being processed,” he assures.

A crisis that goes beyond Bururi and Matana

The case of the Bururi and Matana districts is not isolated. In several regions of the country, farmers report experiencing similar payment delays. They complain and accuse agency officials of “robbing us.”

This serious accusation illustrates the growing loss of trust between producers and ANAGESSA.