Burundi

The context

Deforestation

The country has experienced alarming rates of deforestation between 1990 and 2010: approximately 40.5% of its forests were lost. This deforestation and land degradation, closely linked to agricultural practices, including coffee cultivation, has led to soil erosion, reduced agricultural productivity, and increased vulnerability to climate change.

Local context

As the European Union market is a significant destination for Burundian Coffee, the country is actively aligning with the European Union’s Regulation on Deforestation-free products (EUDR) to ensure that coffee production is sustainable and deforestation-free. This alignment is crucial to maintaining access to the EU market, which accounts for 60% of Burundi’s coffee exports.

Biodiversity

Burundi, often referred to as the “Heart of Africa”, has about 150.000 hectares of forest and boasts rich biodiversity. Its ecosystems include Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Tropical and Subtropical Grasslands, Shrublands and Savannas, Eastern and Coastal Freshwater, and Great Lakes Freshwater.

Agriculture

Agriculture employs over 90% of Burundi’s population and contributes approximately 25% to Burundi’s Gross Domestic Product. Coffee is the primary export crop, from which more than 600,000 families depend on for their livelihoods. However, the sector faces significant environmental challenges, particularly land degradation, which are closely linked to its agricultural practices, including coffee cultivation.

Decoupling Agriculture from Deforestation

Burundi is actively adopting more sustainable practices to address environmental challenges. These efforts include integrating trees into farming systems to restore degraded lands and improve productivity; as well as implementing practices that enhance soil health and reduce erosion. Moreover, it is adopting geolocation and traceability measures in coffee production to prove its compliance with international regulations aligning with the European Union’s EUDR.

Approach

SAFE Burundi has the objective to support the inclusive and equitable transition to sustainable coffee value chain in Burundi, particularly for smallholders, by scaling up agroecological practices, reducing risks in value chain, and attracting public and private investment in sustainable agri-food businesses. At the local level, SAFE will provide training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs), especially soil fertility management, pruning techniques, shade trees & intercropping, and climate-smart farming to increase productivity and quality. The project will promote the intensification of agro-ecological practices such as the use of organic fertilizers, bio-pesticides and shade crops and establishing farmer field schools (FFS) and demonstration plots to facilitate hands-on learning and peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and raising awareness about international coffee standards and EUDR compliance.

Commodities SAFE is working on in Burundi:

Approach

Commodities SAFE is working on in Burundi:

Activities

Traceability and digitization support for EUDR compliance

SAFE provides training to smallholder farmers on the use of tools for registering, tracing, and monitoring coffee production for EUDR compliance. The project has launched a pilot, in collaboration with smallholders, to collect geolocation data for EUDR compliance.

Capacities of Producers

SAFE offers capacity building on sustainable coffee production systems to smallholders. Some of the topics included are sustainable coffee production, productivity and quality increase, deforestation-free production, training on certification, and sustainable business management.

Sustainable Coffee Value Chain

Burundi is committed to producing, processing and marketing coffee in a way that protects the environment, supports farmers’ livelihoods, and ensures products traceability and quality.

Governance, Public Policy and Financing

Support the development of a national coffee sector dashboard for traceability and transparency, as well as the integration of open-source tools (e.g. INATrace, WHISP) in national dashboards. Moreover, the project provides training for smallholder farmers on access to finance.

Regional dialogue

SAFE fosters regional knowledge exchange on EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) implementation. It facilitates coffee private and public partners to participate in conferences and coffee platforms in which policymakers, civil society, and coffee value chain actors share perspectives, learnings, knowledge, and experience.