A Half Century of Agrarian Crisis in Burundi (1890-1945): The Incapacity of the Colonial Administration in Managing the Agrarian Crisis of the Late Eighteen-Hundreds

In order to reconstruct the main stages of agrarian history and to understand the genesis of the current landscape, it is necessary to start with the most recent additions and then go back in time. For example, the artificial afforestation (eucalyptus, pines, cypress) that presently covers numerous crests and mountainsides is recent, as are the exotic trees that farmers have planted on their own landholdings (grevillea and eucalyptus in particular). Likewise, the oldest trees on the coffee and tea plantations that are nowadays omnipresent date back to the colonial era, as does the incredibly dense network of rideable roads that lead to them. What would remain of the landscape if one were to ignore the elements that are so present today? The banana groves? After all, how is it possible to imagine Burundi without the banana groves that dominate the current landscape in many areas and represent the pillar of the peasant economy, occupying a privileged place in the Burundian culture (and, one may be tempted to say, traditions)? And yet, with a few rare exceptions (particularly in the warmer regions of the Southeast and the depression of the Tanganyika), Burundian farmers did not cultivate bananas before the twentieth century;' they too are relatively new additions to the countryside. Indeed, to picture pre-colonial Burundian landscape, one must imagine a Burundi without banana trees or the Xanthosoma-type taros (amateke ikisungu) that grow in their shade and hillsides, without cassava or sweet potatoes; in fact, these crops were only truly cultivated under colonial pressure, as we will see below.