Mtangazaji: Apollinaire_Masuguru
Tukio: ECHO East Africa Highlands Symposium 2014 (27-10-2014)
Caracteristics of the Burundian agricultural sector
• The agricultural sector is the engine of the national economy
• But it is essentially a subsistence farming.
• Agriculture is practiced in a rudimentary way by about 1.5 million rural households (90% of households) on very small farms whose average size is about 0.5 ha.
• Population pressure on land increases land problems which, in return, worsens the level of productivity and environmental degradation.
• The coexistence of customary law and the written law does not fail to bring about permanent conflicts among rural populations. These conflicts have a negative impact on agricultural production
• Adequate land legislation is in the process of approval.
• Repatriation and reintegration also increase among others, the problem of access to land.
• Burundi's agriculture depends almost entirely on rainfall.
• Despite its important position in the economy (contribution to the GDP and % of farmer population), agricultural productivity is very low comparing it with other African countries.
• The vulnerability of rural populations is increasing and poverty is accelerating, too.
• In a context of chronic malnutrition with a high prevalence of stunting of more than 50% for children under 5 years;
• Women play a central role in the food sovereignty of households and communities, but the majority remain largely marginalized and dependent. Burundian women representing 51.7% of the total population and 85% are farmers