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Increasing Access to Essential Services in Burundi

On the Ground

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Agriculture Burundi
Dans la province de Mwaro, au Burundi, plus de 9 000 personnes seront accompagnées dans le renforcement ou la mise en place d’activités agricoles © Evrard Ngendakumana / AFD

An estimated 15% of Burundi’s population is food insecure and many lack reliable access to essential services. AFD is backing the improvement of services in a variety of sectors, from health and education to agriculture. We look at how such support can change the lives of Burundians.

Living with HIV

In Burundi, more than 6,000 HIV-positive people can benefit from health follow-up through the various projects of the National Association of Support for HIV-positive and AIDS Patients (ANSS), with the support of AFD Group. 

Services range from screening and antiretroviral (ARV) treatment to psychological and educational support for young people living with HIV. Such support is particularly important, as the patients are often stigmatized. 

Note that in the videos below, English subtitles are available on Youtube.

Burundi: The Dedicated Teams Helping People Deal with HIV

Tackling hunger with agroecology

According to the UN, more than 2 million people in Burundi are food insecure, especially those who do not have access to land or means of production, in a country where 90% of the population is dependent on the agriculture sector.

Agroecology training financed by AFD, in partnership with CCFD-Terre Solidaire and implemented by INADES, is supporting about 9,400 farmers. More than half of them are women. 

Such training has helped farmers learn or perfect the production of organic manure, use natural methods to crops and seeds and deploy natural pesticides. 

It’s no exaggeration to say such methods have changed the lives of farmers like Marie Goreth Ndayisaba. 

“On the very same land, my bean production has tripled,” she says.

Further reading: AFD in East Africa: Partnerships in Rural Areas






Objective “Zero Violence”

“We learn how to live together peacefully,” says a young Burundian student who is taking part in a program set up by the NGO Play International: through sport and games, teachers and youth leaders raise the children’s awareness about integration, tolerance and non-violence. 

The objectives of this awareness-raising include making people who have committed violent acts realize what they have done, and helping victims ask for assistance of those close to them, as well as the competent authorities. Some 4,000 children are expected benefit from these activities.