To strengthen the skills of the associations of producers

Located in the Province of Ruyigi, in Burundi, this project seeks to restore food self-sufficiency of the members operating the Seed Centers in Nyabigozi, Mubavu and Kinyinya and the surrounding communities.

Today, in Burundi, nearly 70% of the population lives underneath the poverty level (on less than one dollar a day per inhabitant) and 85% of households face food insecurity on a daily basis. Food insecurity basically means not knowing if one will be able to eat during the day. The rate of acute malnutrition is greater than 10% and the daily calorie intake per inhabitant is well below the required norm (1’650 calories as opposed to 2’250 required).

The specific objectives of the program are the following:
 

• To produce and exchange seeds of good quality through the promotion and strengthening of the associations of producers.
• To initiate Income Generating Activities (IGA) in favor of young people (who do not have access to land) organized in associations of producers of palm oil, soya, peanuts and sunflower.
• To build infrastructures of storage, transformation and conservation for the basic products destroyed during the conflicts.
• To favor agro-forestry, biodiversity and to fight against erosion through reforestation.
• To restore small livestock farming destroyed during the war.
• To strengthen the skills of the associations of producers by initiating experience exchange forums within the structure called Peasant School Fields (PSF)
• To certify seeds in collaboration with the Department of Seed and Plant Promotion (DSPP)

The number of beneficiaries of the program:

• 4’000 families in forestry sector
• 1’000 families in the storage sector
• 900 families in the livestock farming sector
• 3 associations in the product transformation sector
• 300 members of associations of producers of seed (2’000 families), in the seed centers