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Floods have devastated communities, destroying homes and livelihoods. In the mountains, landslides are a constant feature. At the same time, the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned Africa of frequent and intense drought
Floods have devastated communities, destroying homes and livelihoods. In the mountains, landslides are a constant feature. At the same time, the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report warned Africa of frequent and intense drought. Burundi’s economy is mainly built on agriculture. Almost 95% of the country’s population work in the agriculture sector. Yet, 70% of the population is food insecure.
The lack of food production has many reasons. A high population growth rate coupled with an equally high density of population is leading to increased pressure on land, resulting in consequent soil erosion. In some areas, the country has a density of over 300 inhabitants per square kilometer and the population grows by 3.2 % every year. The repeated cultivation on the same land and the hillside farming have led to tremendous soil erosion. A 2017 World Bank analysis found that Burundi loses almost 38 million tons of soil a year, and from 2017 to 2020, more than 33,000 hectares of the land area experienced acute degradation. The subsequent unequal access to land leads to poor agricultural practices which provide them with limited access to markets as well.
The changing climate and unpredictable weather patterns make agriculture a hazardous task in Burundi. Farmers in the East African country are the poorest in the world. Heavy rains and high winds inflict massive destruction on the farming community. Floods have devastated communities, destroying homes and livelihoods. In the mountains, landslides are a constant feature. At the same time, the recent IPCC report warned Africa of frequent and intense drought.
Slowly waking up from the covid- 19 impacts, Burundi’s farmers are faced with the inflationary effects brought by the Ukraine crisis. The record increase in food and fertilizer prices had made those commodities out of reach. The inaccessibility to fertilizers affected production adversely.
Amidst these hazards, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has recently come up with crucial support for small-scale farmers to help them cope with the imminent challenges. As part of their Crisis Response Initiative (CRI), Burundi received a US$3 million grant to help mitigate the ongoing impacts of the Ukraine crisis. The program seeks to cover livelihoods and make adaptability in pastoral communities by addressing the critical requirements. Efforts are being initiated for tapping new market openings for small-scale producers.
The support mechanism introduced by IFAD includes the distribution of hybrid maize seeds, climate-resilient vegetable seeds, mushroom, and pig kits to small-scale farmers. These kits are mostly distributed to farmers of villages in Gitega, Karusi, Kayanza, Ngozi, and Muyinga provinces. The required fund will be disbursed through the Agricultural Production Intensification and Vulnerability Reduction Project (PIPARV-B). it is estimated to help 255,480 poor rural people of the country to protect their livelihoods and to ensure food security.
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Burundi with its high potential for cash crops production and a vast labor force can definitely hope for a better future with the help of initiatives to increase its agrarian output, improve food security, and combat malnutrition and poverty.
