Conflict and Coffee in Burundi 155117 lnterview with a former OClBU departmental head in charge of pricing, Nairobi.
3 July 2001.
118 According to the International Crisis Group respondent cited above. one of the
priorities of the Ndadaye administration was the streamlining of the operations in
the coffee subsector to ensure that farmers, overwhelmingly Hutu incidentally,
and from among whom FRODEBU derived a larger share of its constituent):
received their just due from their coffee produce.
119 Interview with a former OCIBU departmental head in charge of pricing, Nairobi,
3 July 2001.
120 Report of Committee IV Reconstruction and Development, Arusha Peace and
Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi, par 3.3.1.
121 This claim has been repeated by many respondents. Virtually all respondents
interviewed by the writer made the connection between expropriated coffee
revenue and the government's defence budget. Clearly then, there is widespread
perception that this is the case.
122 Interview with a Burundi agriculture graduate student in Kenya. 3 July 2001.
Nairobi.
123 See review of the report July 1999 United States Bureau of Intelligence and
Research in Arms trade fuel conflict in Africa. The East African. Nairobi,
5 September 1999.
124 United Nations. S/2001/357, op cit.
125 This is however changing, as coffee prices are now, as opposed to in the past.
more available and accessible to farmers. Interview. ICG political analyst, op cit.
However, the filtering and 'noises' along the chain as illustrated by Love above
effectively ensure that primary producers cannot obtain timely, accurate and
concise and sometimes relevant information.
126 Aside from the mentioned report of the US Bureau of Research and Intelligence.
repons are widespread of rebels imposing taxes on the peasants to foot war-
related maintenance expenses. Pan of this is paid from revenues farmers derive
from coffee, which constitute the major source of peasant farmers' disposable
income.
127 Economist Intelligence Unit, op cit.
128 Dupont, op fit.
129 Economist Intelligence Unit, op fit. The sectorial ranking as a percentage of GDP
is as follows: agriculture. 46%. services 37.7%, indnstw 16.7%.
130 S R Weisman. Prewenting genocide: Lessons learned fmm international diploma-
cy. United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC, 1998.
131 Lemarcband identified the marketing of coffee as a source of conflict between the
two groups in his response to this study's questionnaire.
132 Interview with a Burundian living in Kenya, 3 July 2001, Nairobi.
133 Interview with Banque Nationale de Developpment Economique employee, op cit.
134 lnterview with former OClBU employee in charge of the Department of Pricing
who worked for a time in the Ntega Marangara region shortly before the violence.
135 Ibid.
136 Dupont, op cit.
137 Ngaruko & Nkurunziza, op cit.