BURUNDI

For more than 50 years, Belgium has worked with Burundi, a fragile state that is among the poorest in the world.

WHAT WE DO

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Belgian aid is concentrated on activities benefiting the population and civil society in the sectors of agriculture, health and education.

Agriculture and economic development

Agriculture is a key sector for the development of Burundi. It employs 90% of the active population and covers 95% of the country's food needs. However, weak productivity, parcelled-out farming land, poor water management and product processing and preservation problems are structurally limiting agricultural growth.

Here, we provide continuous and comprehensive support to the development of the agricultural sector: hydro-agricultural works on approximately 4,000 hectares of land, support to water users, protection of the watersheds, coaching of farmers' organisations and seed producers, processing and added-value creation of production by means of support to agricultural micro enterprises and agricultural research.

Health

With its support to Burundi's health sector, Belgium aims to guarantee access to quality health care for all.

Thus, we support, in the provinces of Kirundo and Muramvya, the health system's decentralisation process, the development of adequate health staff, a quality healthcare package and community empowerment. We also support the creation of a high-performance health information system to ensure the monitoring of public health. Finally, we contribute to the improvement of the functioning of healthcare establishments (construction, equipment, IT projects, and maintenance). Since 2016, we also implement a countrywide programme for the European Union of performance-based financing of health entities.

Education

Burundi has undertaken a reform of basic education and of vocational training. It comprises an adaptation of the education system to the country's needs, a broadening of basic education from a 6- to a 9-year curriculum, and the organisation of vocational training through modules.

One of our interventions focuses on a transformation of the programmes, teachers training and the provision of teaching and learning materials. Another intervention strengthens the management and governance of school institutions, matches the quality of the training offer with the needs of the economy, inserts graduates on the job market and improves the vocational training infrastructure.

Enabel primarily implements projects in the domains of agriculture, health and education in Burundi.

VIEW THE PROJECTS