MEMO/13/115 

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UROPEAN 

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OMMISSION

 

MEMO 

Brussels, 20 February 2013 

EU Development Work in Burundi 

An overview of Burundi 

Burundi is a small, landlocked country that straddles Central and East Africa, with a total 
land area of 27,834 km2, and approximately 8.5 million inhabitants; about 15% of whom 

live in urban areas.  
After many years of destructive civil war (1993-2000) which had a devastating effect on 

the country's economy and infrastructure, Burundi is still a very fragile country. It has 
enjoyed relative peace and slow but steady progress in the last seven years. Burundi’s 

GDP per capita in 2012 is estimated at $270, making it still one of the poorest countries in 
the world. Most of the population lives on less than a dollar per day.  

EU Development Work with Burundi 

The EU has worked in development in Burundi since 2003, when the transition period after 
the war began. EU cooperation with Burundi is focused on the areas of health, 

rehabilitation, rural development, food security, budget support, good governance and 
civil society. 
Between 2008-2013 (through the10th European Development Fund - EDF - and National 

Indicative Programme - NIP), the European Commission is providing €188 million to 
Burundi, for rural development and rehabilitation (€52m), the healthcare sector (€25m) 

and general budget support (€90m).  
Other areas will also receive funding totalling €21m; including good governance, trade and 

support for the national authorizing officer. 
Burundi benefits from an additional €18 million as part of the MDG Initiative to finance a 

project set up to improve the food security and nutrition situation of the country.  
The total funding currently amounts to €210.7 M. 
On top of this, Burundi benefits from an additional € 45.6 million for unforeseen needs ( 

part of the 10th EDF NIP) mainly in health and food security and €37 million under the EU 
budget lines to finance projects in the fields of food security, civil society and human 

rights. 
The Commission decided to prioritise budget support, health, food security and 

rehabilitation in its work. The 10th EDF will also support civil society and governance 
projects. 

 

 

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Health projects in Burundi 

a) 'Santé Plus' project (€11.5 million) – This project was set up in 2007 to provide a link 
between the humanitarian projects coming to an end and the reinforcement of longer term 
health structures. The project covers six provinces - Rutana, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Karuzi, 

Makamba, Bururi (East and South-West of Burundi). 
Thanks to this project, a functional 'health district' has been set up in six provinces 

(helping to improve decentralisation) and quality health services have been provided 
(through rehabilitation and equipment of health centre and staff training), thus helping to 

ensure better quality, accessible healthcare throughout Burundi. 
b) Project 'Appui à la politique sectorielle de la santé au Burundi  (PAPSBU), €25 million 
This project, which is named 'Amagara Meza', or 'good health' in Kirundi, started in 2011 
and covers eight provinces - Rutana, Ruyigi, Cankuzo, Karuzi, Makamba, Bururi, 
Bujumbura rural and Bubanza (East and West of Burundi). Its objective is to help the 

Burundian health system to provide quality health care services, thus improving the health 
of the population. 
The project includes a component on 'Universal Coverage', which contributed to putting in 
place two innovative systems – Performance Based Financing (PBF), which links incentives 

to performance in order to improve the access, service and quality of healthcare, and the 
Health Insurance Card (HIC).  
Thanks to EU support in health in Burundi with the above projects, over 3 million 
inhabitants in these provinces have benefited and will continue to benefit from improved 
access to better quality equipment and rehabilitation. Pregnant women and children under 

5 have particularly benefited from the increased access to healthcare. 
Health consultations for children under five have also multiplied by two between 2007 and 

2008 and the rate of pregnant women giving birth assisted by trained staff has increased 
from 30.7% in 2006 to 60% in 2010.  
However, Burundi's lack of energy continues to pose a serious problem for health services 
– especially for vaccinations and medicine safety. 

Food and Nutrition Projects 

More than 70% of the population in Burundi suffers from food insecurity and the current 
level of chronic malnutrition rate of 58% of children under five is one of the highest in 

Burundi for more than two decades. Burundi is among the six most affected countries in 
the world.  
It is estimated that more than 90% of the population works in farming, due to a lack of 
jobs in other areas of the economy. Most of the poor are small farmers (with less than 0.5 

hectares) who depend on food crops; a situation that applies particularly to women 
farmers who are household heads.  
a) Project 'Contribution à l’allégement de la flambée des prix des denrées alimentaires par 

l’amélioration des capacités de production des associations exploitant les périmètres 
irrigués de l’Imbo' 
The EU has provided €5.4 million for this programme under its Food Facility (set up to help 
developing countries to respond rapidly to problems caused by soaring food prices) and 

has been implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).  

 

 

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The project has been designed to reduce the negative impact of rising food prices and the 

effects of the climate on the food security of vulnerable households in Burundi. It has 
helped to guarantee an increase in agricultural production and food supply on the market, 

in order to cope with the effects of soaring prices and weather conditions.  
Ways in which it has made a difference include: the rehabilitation and development of 

3,500 ha of irrigation; the reconstruction of 8km of a dike against flooding by the river 
Mutimbuzi; support to increase rice cultivation by 4 000 ha; providing producers with 
quality products such as seeds and fertilisers, reintroducing the animal traction system 

(using animals in agriculture and transportation), rehabilitating rural tracks and the 
construction of storage warehouses.  
b) Project 'Réponse rapide à la flambée des prix alimentaires dans 8 Provinces au Burundi 
à travers le renforcement de la capacité productive agricole et l’appui aux formes 

d’agrégation paysannes pour la relance du secteur primaire et de la commercialisation'. 
The project has also been funded under the Food Facility and implemented by a 

consortium of four Italian NGOs (AVSI, LVIA, VISPE and GVC). The EU contribution 
amounts to €1m. The project was set up to provide a rapid response to soaring food prices 
in rural areas of Burundi by strengthening agricultural production and support for farmers 

in order to improve agriculture in eight  provinces in Burundi (Ngozi, Kayanza, Ruyigi, 
Rutana, Karuzi, Gitega, Bujumbura Mairie, Bubanza). 
The project has helped to: construct an agro-industrial transformation centre in 
Bujumbura Mairie; provide quality seeds and fertilisers; build irrigation schemes; provide 

training  and  guidance  on  the  management  of  resources;  rehabilitate  five  storage 
warehouses and construct five rural outlets in the Provinces of Kayanza and Ngozi. 
EU contribution through the Food Facility has supported Burundi in putting in place 
initiatives to respond rapidly to problems caused by soaring food prices. The flexibility it 
provided has been key to transforming emergency measures into medium-long term 

action in line with Burundi's national programmes. 
c) Project MDG Initiative – 'Projet pour accélérer l'atteinte de l'OMD 1c (PROPA-O)'. 
Thanks to an additional contribution of €18 million, the EU will further support Burundi 
efforts to improve the food security and nutrition situation of its population. The project is 

just starting and has been put in place to help Burundi reach MDG 1 'Eradicate extreme 
poverty and hunger') and specifically target c ('Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the 

proportion of people who suffer from hunger'.) 
The project covers the areas of Imbo and Moso, which show particularly alarming 
malnutrition rates; but at the same time have a certain potential for development of 

agricultural production. Activities will include: marshland irrigation, helping to develop 
production value chains, providing education on nutrition and helping to strengthen local 

health structures. It is expected to benefit around 20,000 households and treat 80,000 
undernourished children. 
d) Project 'Programme de renouvellement des équipements des différentes complexes 
theicoles de l'Office du Thé du Burundi (OTB)'  
This project, funded by STABEX (the Système de Stabilisation des Recettes d'Exportation; 
a Commission finance scheme set up to remedy the harmful effects of the instability of 
export revenue from agricultural products) was set up to improve the exportable 

production of tea, thus helping to promote sustainable and fair economic growth.  

 

 

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The Burundian economy depends heavily on agriculture and tea and coffee are an 

important part of that. The project involves the replacement or rehabilitation of some old 
equipment in the various complexes of the 'Office du Thé du Burundi (O.T.B.)'. This 

resulted in the improvement of the quality of the dried tea, the increase in selling prices 
and therefore of the income of at least 50,000 households who cultivate tea. All 

production of green leaf is (33,000 tonnes in 2008) is now currently being treated in good 
conditions. 
Before the renewal program, sales at the Mombasa tea auction were at around $1.5/kg. 

Now, thanks to the partial replacement of the equipment, the price now varies between 
2.6 $/kg and 3.00 $/kg. 

Energy projects 

The EU is nevertheless well aware of the energy concern and of the constraint energy 
represents for all sectors of the economy of Burundi. It recently launched the 'Energy 

cooperation for the Great Lakes' initiative in order to achieve the objectives of the 
Sustainable Energy for All Initiative by 2030 (a UN initiative, supported by the EU, to help 

ensure universal energy access to modern energy services for all). Representatives from 
the European Commission, Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) 

are cooperating closely and have recently finalised the roadmap for the implementation of 
this cooperation, which will now have to be ratified at a high level. 
The EU gives its full support to regional projects such as Ruzizi, which aims to improve the 
capacity of energy production and the access to energy. Concerning Ruzizi III, the EU is 
ready to mobilise its financial instruments and to cooperate with the development banks 

and  in  particular  with  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB).  The  EU  is  also  ready  to 
support the rehabilitation of Ruzizi I and II provided that profitability and sustainability 

conditions are met. 
The first condition which needs to be fulfilled is the setting up of the 'agence de basin du 

Lac Kivu – ABAKIR' which will guarantee the optimal management of the resources of Lake 
Kivu. The legal framework for setting up this agency is now ready and will be soon 

submitted for ratification by the three countries. 

Background 

The EU's cooperation with Burundi dates back to 2003, when the transition period after 

the war began. EU cooperation with Burundi is focused on the areas of health, 
rehabilitation, rural development and food security, budget support, good governance and 

civil society and is making a difference to the lives of millions of Burundians. Thanks to EU 
support for healthcare, for example, over 3 million inhabitants have benefited from 

improved access to better quality equipment and rehabilitation.  
The multi-annual indicative programme for Burundi under the 10th EDF amounts to €188 
million to address these priorities. Additional € 18 million have been allocated to fight 

against food and nutrition insecurity in the framework of the MDG initiative. 
The food and nutrition situation in Burundi is alarming. It is one of the poorest countries in 

the world, ranking 185/187 in the human development index (2011) and most of the 
population lives on less than a dollar per day. The current level of chronic malnutrition rate 

of 58% of children under 5 is one of the highest in more than two decades. 

 

 

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The current electrification rate in Burundi is about 4%. 60,000 households have access to 

electricity, compared to the 1.6 million households, or about 8 million people, who do not. 
Burundi’s recurring conflict over the last 20 years has largely destroyed infrastructure, 

especially the country’s energy generation, transmission and distribution systems. Wood 
(and charcoal), used for cooking, will remain the main source of energy for both rural and 

urban households for a long time. This has a serious negative effect both on health and 
the environment and can lead to respiratory diseases due to indoor air pollution.