Burundi

A kingdom of the Great Lakes

Burundi lies in the Great Rift Valley, where the African Great Lakes region meets south-eastern Africa, and Lake Tanganyika runs along its south-western border. The first evidence of a Burundian kingdom, ruled by a king, the mwami, dates from the late 16th century. In the late 19th century the territory became part of German East Africa, and after the First World War it was administered by Belgium; the monarchy survived colonial rule and lasted until 1966, four years after independence on 1 July 1962.

Bujumbura, on the shore of the lake, is the largest city and economic capital. In December 2018 the government announced that Gitega, in the centre of the country and once the seat of the monarchy, would become the political capital, a change Parliament made official in January 2019. Kirundi, French and English are the official languages, and Kirundi is the national language.

The royal drum

In Kirundi the word ingoma means both drum and kingdom, and drums were long tied to royal power: only the king could order one to be made, and sacred drums such as Karyenda were kept in sanctuaries guarded by drumming lineages. The Royal Museum for Central Africa describes how Karyenda was brought out only on rare occasions, above all for umuganuro, the rites that celebrated the first fruits and the sowing of sorghum.

Drums are made from hollowed tree trunks covered with cow hide held by wooden pegs. In the performance UNESCO recognised in 2014, an odd number of drums, a dozen or more, stand in a semicircle around a central drum; several are beaten in a continuous rhythm while the others follow the beat of the central drum, and dancers, heroic poetry and songs join in. It is played at national and local celebrations and to welcome important guests. At the Gishora sanctuary outside Gitega, two sacred drums, Ruciteme and Murimirwa, have names that refer to clearing and cultivating the land; according to the New York Times, the drum once marked the start of the yearly farming season.

As a New York Times report carried by the Boston Globe noted in 2022, a 2017 presidential decree barred women from performing the traditional drumming and limited it largely to official ceremonies.

Beans, plantains and fish from the lake

Beans are the staple of Burundian cooking, and stewed beans are traditionally eaten at least once a day, alongside plantains, sweet potatoes, cassava, peas and maize. Meat, mainly chicken and goat, is eaten only rarely. World Travel Guide lists boko boko harees, chicken cooked with bulgur wheat, onion and turmeric, among typical dishes, and notes that fish is popular near Lake Tanganyika, including ndagala, small fish eaten whole, and mukeke.

Sorghum was once both a staple and a symbol of the royal family and of wealth, according to Euronews, though rice and maize, crops introduced by the German and Belgian colonisers, have since largely replaced it in the fields.

Sorghum beer and banana wine

Sorghum still matters in a glass. Impeke, a dense, brown, acidic and bitter sorghum beer, is brewed in rural areas for weddings, parties and other gatherings, and is often drunk through straws: guests gather round a large shared jar and drink from it together as a sign of unity. Banana wine, urwarwa, is made at home for celebrations.

In Emblem World, the Burundi Pavilion gathers local food, drink and music, from boko boko to sorghum beer, for people to discover and rate.