BUJUMBURA May 30th (ABP) – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), present in Burundi since 1980, is committed to supporting producers to explore and exploit local market opportunities, especially regional ones, announced the country director of the IFAD in Burundi, Mr. Dagmawi Habte Selassie, during a press conference organized on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in Bujumbura, by the United Nations system in Burundi.
In addition to country allocations, Mr. Dagmawi pointed out that through this new 2022-2027 strategy, there will be mobilization of funds for actions related to climate change, the strengthening of partnerships with the private sector, especially with regard to the development and processing of agricultural products.
According to that IFAD official in Burundi, the purpose of this new 2022-2027 strategy is to reduce the poverty and fragility suffered by small agricultural producers, by sustainably improving their income, their food security, their nutritional status and their socio-ecological resilience. This general objective will be achieved through three strategic objectives, he said.
The first objective is to improve the productivity, sustainability and climate resilience of smallholder farmers in priority value chains. The second objective consists in increasing the added value and benefits of market participation for rural women and youth, while the last specific objective is to strengthen institutional governance for food systems transformation through capacity building, better coordination and greater inclusion.
Mr. Dagmawi also pointed out that IFAD’s interventions currently cover 14 provinces of the country, namely Bujumbura, Bubanza, Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Kayanza, Karusi, Gitega, Makamba, Muramvya, Muyinga, Ngozi, Rumonge, Ruyigi and Rutana. During more than 4 decades of cooperation and partnership with Burundi, more than 1,027,799 households have already benefited from IFAD’s interventions through its projects and programs, he noted.
This is the Sector Development Program (PROODEFI-phase 2) in the process of being closed with a total cost of 51.1 million US dollars including co-financing, which covers 7 provinces of the country and 16 communes of the central plateau of Burundi. This is also the National Program for Food Security and Rural Development of Imbo and Moso (PNSADR-IM) whose funding is 58.4 million USD including co-financing, which covers 5 provinces in the Imbo and Moso regions.
Among IFAD’s projects and programs in Burundi, there is also the Burundi Agricultural and Rural Financial Inclusion Support Project (PAIFAR-B) which covers 14 rural provinces of the country with total grant funding of USD 38.609 million from IFAD and the government, as well as the Project to Intensify Agricultural Production and Reduce Vulnerability in Burundi (PIPARV-B) which covers 5 provinces of the central plateau with an amount of 101.007 million US dollars with the co-financing of the World Food Program (WFP), government as well as beneficiary contributions.
Given that IFAD’s motto is to invest in rural people, the country director of IFAD in Burundi cited quite a few main areas of intervention, among others, the fight against land degradation (anti-erosion control and reforestation), the hydro-agricultural developments of the swamps, the distribution of cows and their dissemination in the community through the community solidarity chain as well as the distribution of pigs and goats to households that do not have the capacity to raise cows. Added to these are the development of rice by supporting cooperatives, the development of milk by supporting breeders’ cooperatives through the construction of milk collection centers and mini-dairies for conservation and milk processing, the fight against malnutrition through nutritional education, the promotion of employment of rural youth to combat unemployment, and the promotion of gender equality.
Note that this news conference was chaired by the resident coordinator of the United Nations system in Burundi, Mr. Damien Mama, in collaboration with representatives of WFP, IFAD and the FAO program, who answered the various questions put to them by the media professionals in relation to their fields of intervention and their future prospects.