The Price of Tea: How Burundi is trading a National Park for a Cash Crop
By: Arthur Bizimana
When Kibira was elevated to protected area status by a ministerial order establishing its boundaries on 12 December 1933, its area was 90,000 hectares. This remained the case until 1950, according to Professor Richard Habonayo, a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy and Bioengineering at the University of Burundi. Today, this area is shrinking. Environmentalists and ecologists are sounding the alarm.
This investigation is divided into four articles. It is based on field reports, interviews, statistical data, satellite images and scientific studies. It explores how the establishment and expansion of tea plantations, research fields, the search for wood to dry tea leaves, and the development activities of local communities are encroaching on Kibira National Park and reducing its size over the years.
The investigation shows how endangered animals such as the chimpanzee, which depend on its existence, are also disappearing as survivors take refuge in neighbouring communities where they seek food and physical safety.
It also reviews the consequences of deforestation in Kibira and climate change on the drying up of water sources, drinking water supplies, the spread of waterborne diseases and the emergence of vector-borne diseases in regions where they did not previously exist.
This first story is part of a series of four investigations produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center.
The Struggle of Kibira National Park
“Do you see that tea plantation on the other side?” asks Etienne Nsaguye, 62, a resident of Rwagongwe village, a community next to the park, pointing to sector B of the Rwegura tea agro-industrial block managed by the OTB. “We now call this sector “muri gitansiyo”, which is an adaptation of the Kirundi word for “extension”.
In the past, this area was covered by a dense forest. It was part of Kibira National Park, explains Nsaguye. “But now, you see, this forest area has given way to tea plantations.”
Rwegura is one of three agro-industrial tea blocks managed by the OTB and located in the former Kibira forest area. Kibira is located in north-western Burundi and is subdivided into four sectors: Musigati sector in Bubanza municipality, Teza sector in Muramvya municipality, Rwegura sector in Kayanza municipality and Mabayi sector in Mabayi municipality.
The agro-industrial tea blocks are located in three sectors of Kibira, namely Teza, Rwegura, and Buhoro in Mabayi. Currently, they are adjacent to the park and even extend into Kibira. Thus, the boundaries of the park and the agro-industrial tea blocks remain unclear.
It is in the Teza sector of Kibira Park, thirty (30) kilometres northeast of Bujumbura – Burundi’s economic capital – or 48 kilometres by road, where tea cultivation was first introduced shortly after independence in 1963 by the Burundian government through the OTB with the intention to raise the standard of living of its population and diversify its exports.
Its gradual expansion until 1977 will reduce the Kibira’s surface area by 1000 hectares. The OTB did not stop there. It gradually established two agro-industrial tea complexes in two other areas of the PNK, namely Rwegura and Buhoro, while developing tea cultivation in surrounding and distant villages.
As the area under tea cultivation increases, not only does the area covered by Kibira decrease, but it is also becoming sparser at the edges of these agro-industrial blocks. Its plant biomass is decreasing.
“When it was elevated to protected area status by a ministerial order establishing the boundaries of Kibira on 12 December 1933, its area was estimated at 90,000 hectares. This remained the case until 1950,” according to Professor Richard Habonayo, a lecturer and researcher at the Faculty of Agronomy and Bioengineering at the University of Burundi.
When the National Institute for the Environment and Nature Conservation (INECN) was created in 1982, the area of Kibira had already fallen to 40,000 hectares, representing a loss of more than half of the protected area, which is equivalent to a 125% loss, according to the report of the third National Communication on Climate Change.
Officially, the area of Kibira is also estimated today at 40,000 hectares. Nevertheless, a study conducted by researchers Dr. Joël Ndayishimiye and Prof. Fréderic Bangirinama in 2016, cited by Prof. Habonayo, shows, through images, that the area of Kibira continues to decrease and now covers more than 36,000 hectares.
In October 2019, the third National Communication on Climate Change estimated the loss of Kibira’s area over the last ten years (from 2009 to 2019) at between 10,000 and 12,000 hectares. Currently, six years after its publication, the area of Kibira is not well known, according to the same report.
However, Berchmans Hatungimana, Director General of the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection (OBPE), rejects these data outright: “I cannot confirm these data, but I believe they are false.”
He asserts that not a single centimetre of the Kibira mentioned in the presidential decree on its demarcation has been encroached upon.
Pr Richard Habonayo indicates that all these findings prove that the area of Kibira National Park has decreased significantly over time. Moreover, he recommends that in-depth studies should be carried out to determine the actual size of Kibira, as this is not well known.
Continued expansion of tea plantations in Kibira.
According to Seraphin Gacuti, who lives near the Teza tea complex, the OTB is currently expanding its tea plantations from the Teza factory into the park. “OTB sends its employees to Kibira to cut down dead and living wood that is used to dry tea leaves and convert this cleared area of Kibira to tea plantations. This remains invisible, as the boundaries between Kibira and the agro-industrial blocks are unclear. Nevertheless, as you can see, in some places, tea plantations are encroaching on Kibira.”
Nestor Mukasi states that since the OTB established sector B of the Rwegura agro-industrial tea block in Kibira, it has continued to gradually clear Kibira to expand its tea plantations and increase production. In sector B, tea plantations are encroaching into Kibira, he explains. While the 2016 Forest Code stipulates a one-kilometre buffer zone between park boundaries and human activities, Jean Nyuzuriyeko, chief of Bukeye Hill, deplores the tea plantations of the Teza factory that encroach on Kibira National Park.
He cites Musugi Hill as an example. This is also noticeable in sector B of the Rwegura agro-industrial block.
Researcher Habonayo asserts that tea plantations are one of the factors contributing to the reduction in the size of Kibira Park. “It cannot be described as a crime, but a large part of Kibira has been cleared and lost to the tea complexes of Teza, Rwegura and Buhoro.”
Gabriel Nahimana, agricultural director at OTB, acknowledges in the weekly Burundi Eco that OTB is continuing to expand its tea plantations to boost production. ‘“In this regard, 150 hectares will be developed over a period of three years in the commune of Mabayi. Expansion is also planned in the communes of Songa and Rutovu,” he said.
Economists Prof. Léonard Nkunzimana and Prof. Adélard Akintore condemned the methods used by the OTB to increase tea production in their study, entitled “Dynamics of the tea industry and its impact on the environment in Burundi: the case of the Rwegura and Teza tea complexes,” published in 2010.
These scientists indicate that in order to increase tea production, the OTB is expanding the area under tea cultivation into nature reserves, in this case, Kibira. The latest annual report from the National Institute of Statistics of Burundi (INSBU), published in December 2024, highlights that green leaf tea production in tea-growing complexes bordering Kibira has increased over the last ten years, as argued by researcher Nkunzimana.
In the Teza industrial block, green leaf tea production has doubled in ten years, rising from 2,572 tonnes in 2013 to 5,433 tonnes in 2023. In the Rwegura industrial block, green leaf tea production increased from 2013 to 2020, rising from 5,586 tonnes to 6,333 tonnes, an increase of 13%, before slowing down in 2023 to 3,379 tonnes, a decline of 39%. At the Buhoro industrial complex, green leaf tea production increased by 12% over the same period, rising from 2,099 tonnes in 2013 to 2,343 tonnes in 2023.
Researchers Nkunzimana and Akintore add that OTB also increases tea production by extending its cultivable area into land from the neighbouring community. This jeopardises other food crops. The chief of Bukeye hill, Jean Nyuzuriyeko, supports this assertion and illustrates it with the cases of Busekera, Kigereka and other hills.
As in the Teza industrial block, in the village community of Banga-Teza, INSBU shows that green leaf tea production has also doubled in ten years. It rose from 5,838 tonnes in 2013 to 11,026 tonnes in 2023. The same applies in the villages of Rwegura and Buhoro. Production rose from 8,440 tonnes to 9,158 tonnes and from 1,940 tonnes to 2,956 tonnes, respectively, representing increases of 8% and 52%.
Scientists Dr Monica Schuster and Prof. Jean Ndimubandi, who have also studied the factors influencing tea production growth, confirm that “the increase in tea production between 2004 and 2016 can be explained by a 60% expansion in surface area and a 40% increase in yield” in their report Introduction of contract farming mechanisms in the tea sector in Burundi, published in September 2018.
Berchmans Hatungimana, Director General of the Burundian Office for Environmental Protection (OBPE), denies any expansion of the OTB’s cultivable land towards Kibira. Instead, he asserts that the OTB is exploiting the area granted to it by the state, emphasising that there is collaboration between the OBPE and the OTB to ensure that the latter does not extend its tea fields towards Kibira, as it does not have the right to do so.
It should be noted that both agencies fall under the same Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock. However, they have different missions. The OBPE is responsible for environmental protection, and the OTB for tea production. The question is whether the OBPE will have the courage to denounce the OTB in the event of non-compliance with the Kibira limits.
Nevertheless, scientist Dr Laurent Ntahuga, a biologist and environmental consultant, deplores the lack of clarification of the mandate and responsibilities of the other key partners of the OBPE in the conservation of Kibira Park. He adds that “state institutions, including the OTB, carry out economic activities in Kibira Park without concern for its conservation.”
In the aforementioned study, researchers Dr. Joël Ndayishimiye and Prof. Fréderic Bangirinama fear the fragmentation of Kibira as a result of agricultural fields, including tea plantations.
Drying green tea leaves consumes wood from parks and public forests
After the green tea leaves are produced, the manufacturing process begins with drying the leaves. Drying also means excessive consumption of wood. Léonard Nkunzimana states, “The OTB burns a significant amount of dry wood in efficient kilns and recovers the steam as a source of energy.”
In a tea factory such as Rwegura, it takes between three and four cubic metres of wood to produce one tonne of dry tea. The wood is harvested from the OTB’s eucalyptus plantations. When it is unable to meet demand, it collects them in Kibira, reports the local community.
Seraphin of Teza accuses the OTB of using wood cut from state-owned forests and the park to dry tea leaves. “The local community secretly cuts wood in Kibira Park early in the morning or in the evening when the guards have already gone home. On the other hand, the OTB sends its employees to Kibira to cut down dead and living wood during the day because it belongs to the state. OTB employees convert this cleared space by planting tea or trees that they can exploit in the future if Kibira officials neglect to reforest it.”
Youssouf Minani, who also lives in Rwegura, accuses the OTB of cutting wood in the park to meet demand. “The OTB Rwegura has plantations where it cuts wood. When it cannot meet the demand for wood, it cuts it in Kibira National Park. With the agreement of INECN, which has evolved into OBPE, OTB cuts eucalyptus wood inside the park, in a locality called Regideso located above the Rwegura reservoir.”
Minani believes that two or three years ago, the OTB cut down trees in the park. The OTB Rwegura cuts down a lot of wood. It shares it with other tea factories such as Buhoro in Mabayi and Teza, according to Désiré Miburo, whom we met in Rwegura.
Scientist Dr Laurent Ntahuga criticises the OTB for using the various eucalyptus plantations in the PNK as timber for services, but also as firewood for tea factories.
Researcher Professor Habonayo points out that the various eucalyptus plantations where the OTB cuts timber are part of the PNK. However, these plantations were established to rehabilitate the deforested areas of Kibira.
Accordingly, any decision to increase dry tea production requires an expansion of tea plantations and a significant supply of wood that can be converted into energy sources. It also involves the intensive use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides. This leads to the destruction of forest resources and water and soil pollution, explains economist Nkunzimana.
Berchmans Hatungimana, Director General of the OBPE, rejects these accusations outright. “Those who accuse the OTB of using wood cut in Kibira Park have a hidden agenda. What I do know is that the OTB uses wood cut from its own tree plantations. When the OTB is unable to meet the demand for wood, it obtains it from state-owned forests. The Ministry of the Environment looks for it in other forests and not in Kibira, because it is strictly forbidden to cut trees there.”
According to Hatungimana, those who accuse the OTB of deforesting Kibira may not be aware of its boundaries. When they see the OTB cutting trees near the park, they assume that it is inside the park.
As for researcher Professor Habonayo, he recommends that the OTB use its own woodlands, considers this sufficient, and does not seek to increase them by deforesting Kibira.
Tea is currently Burundi’s second-largest export crop and source of foreign exchange after coffee. The Bank of the Republic of Burundi reports that over 90% of dry tea production is exported. These exports are divided between direct sales to private wholesalers and sales at auction in Mombasa. Direct sales account for 54.2%, or 5,116.9 tonnes of tea production. Auctions account for 38.8%, equivalent to 3,660.6 tonnes of tea production. Local tea consumption accounts for 6.94%, equivalent to 654.7 tonnes.
Drawing a red line
Despite deforestation, Kibira remains the most important of Burundi’s three national parks. ‘In Burundian tradition, we respected prohibitions,’ says ecologist Léonidas Nzigiyimpa. For example, it was forbidden to throw stones where the churn was placed, because it contained something valuable: milk. Instead, we took care of it.
Kibira Park should be considered a place where a butter churn is kept that no one should destroy. For him, Kibira is priceless. It is the life of the country. ‘The survival of Kibira is the survival of Burundi. The disappearance of Kibira is a disaster. It is the beginning of the disappearance of our country, because the two share the same destiny,’ he warns. To preserve Kibira, “we should draw a red line that must not be crossed.”
