Burundi

For more than 50 years, Belgium has worked with Burundi. Our work 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

In the provinces of Kirundo and Muramvya we support 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 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.

We focus on a transformation of the education programmes, teacher training and the provision of teaching and learning materials. We also work on strengthening management of schools, matching the quality of the training offer with the needs of the economy, inserting graduates on the job market and improving vocational training infrastructure.