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Improve economic viability of farmers An introduction to the Burundi case April 13, 2012 Hanneke Heesmans and Christy van Beek
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Contents Burundi: a country struggling with its post-war traumas Project definition and objectives Approach: economy meets health meets agriculture Guiding principles The concept of the project Recent experiences
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Burundi, a country with… A history of violence between ethnic groups such as the Tutsi and Hutu people. One of the lowest GDP per capita in the world A densely populated country Two periods of large scale displacement. more than half a million refugees who returned to Burundi in the past 5-10 years.
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Sharing land These refugees are returning to their land... ... which is already (legally) occupied by residents. A standoff is created. Land can only be shared when both parties (refugees and residents) have equal benefits. Land is scarce; the only way forward is to increase productivity (i.e. production per hectare).
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the potential for yield increase is enormous
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Problem definition and objectives Social tension between groups because of increasing demands on limited resources. Main objective: To reduce social tension by improving rural livelihoods. ● To improve agricultural productivity. ● To reduce production risks. ● To improve market diversification. ● To improve social cohesion.
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Approach: Improve agricultural productivity Information makes stakeholders ready to act: Joint learning through quantified information on farm management and farm performance appeal to entrepreneurial skills. Information ≈ motivation Participative, evidence based and tailor made. Feed-back workshops, policy recommendations, etc. Adult literacy for ownership
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Approach: Reduce production risks Micro-credits and insurances Health risk Property risk (agriculture) Capacity building Micro-finance: Micro credit & Micro-insurance Adaptation to the market through storage (hangars)
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Approach: Market diversification The right crop for the right place. Huge diversification in agro-ecology. At present: everybody is doing the same thing everywhere at the same time. Periods with market overload or shortage.
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Approach: to improve social cohesion More stability (social balance) Better health Improved food security Economic resilience The improved incomes and health care will be financed and protected by micro insurance.
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Know Your Farm: guiding principles Farms are complex systems; mere single value chain approaches will not succeed. At the end of the day only the overall farm results count for farmers. However, there is a very poor quantitative understanding of farm management and farm performance. Markets benefit from diversity, not from everybody doing the same thing everywhere. Feed-your-family-first
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Concept of the project Economic viability and environmental robustness Increase productivity through uptake of best practices Agro- ecological and socio- economic environment Conducive Environment Farm Right practice on right place. Make farmers entrepreneurs: access to inputs and quantitative understanding Refugees and residents
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Recent experiences ZOA initiated a project in which residents and refugees are rewarded with fertilizers, seeds and agronomic advices when they succeed in peaceful sharing. Until now the project looks very promising (land is indeed peacefully shared), but it is also risky because of dependency on external inputs. There is a need for a more profound approach in this project.
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Making a change Make packages of innovations; the problems are too complex to be solved by mono- disciplinary projects. Include farmers in the process: learn by what you see with your own eyes.
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Thank you for your attention Hanneke.heesmans@wur.nl
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