Article by Audace Cintije, Slow Food Burundi
Burundi is one of the most densely populated countries in Africa and one of the poorest in the world. Its population is estimated at 12.3 million, with an annual population growth of over 2.23%. Burundi’s fertility rate is high at 5.5 children per woman (EDS III 2016-2017). Several structural causes keep Burundi in a situation of chronic precariousness. In 2018, Burundi ranked 185 out of 189 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) (UNDP, 2019) with over 65% of the population living below the national poverty line of USD 1.25 per day. Burundi’s economy is heavily dependent on the agricultural sector which, despite the scarcity of arable land, employs over 80% of the population. Agriculture, which is the main source of employment, does not generate sufficient income and contributes only 40% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP, World Bank 2019).
Nutrition challenges
Burundi is grappling with a series of successive shocks that are significantly hindering its efforts to achieve sustainable food and nutritional security. These challenges are also impeding the country’s progress toward sustainable economic growth, which heavily relies on agriculture. The country’s GDP growth is insufficient to keep pace with one of the highest population growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa.
Food and nutritional security are being undermined by a combination of poverty, rapid population growth, land and environmental degradation, and gender inequality in resource access. Chronic malnutrition and anemia among children under five remain alarmingly high. The COVID-19 pandemic has further exacerbated poverty levels, compounding these issues.
Access to nutritious food continues to be a major hurdle, with over 67% of the population unable to afford a nutritious diet (WFP, Fill the Nutrient Gap, 2019). Subsistence farming, which supports 80% of the population, faces critical limitations due to inadequate farmland and restricted access to agricultural inputs. High population density, soil degradation, and climate change-induced shocks—such as floods and droughts—have led to increasingly poor harvests. These challenges, along with a worsening economic situation, have severely impacted the food and nutritional security of 44% of the population (JANFSA, 2019).
Recent nutritional survey data (SMART, 2020) indicate a worsening nutritional crisis. Food and nutritional security remain pressing challenges, with 52.2% of children under five being stunted. The prevalence of Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) has risen to 6.1%, up from 4.5% in 2018. Alarmingly, 31 out of 47 health districts report GAM rates between 5% and 9.9%, surpassing the 5% alert threshold set by the World Health Organization (WHO). These figures signal a nutritional crisis in many areas.
In terms of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), dietary diversity remains a significant challenge. Only 7.7% of children aged 6 to 23 months receive the minimum dietary diversity, 40.5% receive the recommended minimum meal frequency, and just 6.8% have an acceptable minimum diet. Additionally, micronutrient deficiencies continue to be a public health concern, with anemia affecting 48% of children under five in urban areas and 62% in rural areas (DHS, 2016/2017). Among women of childbearing age, anemia prevalence stands at 22% in urban areas and 41% in rural areas.
About Slow Food Burundi
Slow Food Burundi was established in 2021 as a Community Slow Food Initiative for Protection of Biodiversity-Karuzi registered by Slow Food International.
Slow Food Burundi’s intervention areas include Bujumbura City (where its headquarters are located), Bujumbura Province (a rural area), Karuzi, Gitega, Kirundo and Muyinga where 10 Slow Food Communities are established, including three communities already approved by Slow Food International at the end of 2024. There are also six Slow Food Farms in these areas of action.
The Slow Food Burundi Community Network, including the Slow Food Farms and Slow Food Restaurant Network, has more than 130 active members.
Slow Food Burundi Initiatives to ensure production and consumption of healthy and nutritious food products
Slow Food Burundi (SF Burundi) carries out several initiatives following agroecological principles.
- Slow Food Garden Project
Slow Food Burundi promotes an agriculture capable of feeding the population, while respecting the land and the biodiversity of local cultures.
From its foundation until the end of December 2024, SF Burundi has created seven gardens (both community and school gardens), including an experimental model garden for the multiplication and preservation of local seeds in Buhiga Karuzi area in 2024. The aim of the gardens is to raise awareness among children about the importance of protecting biodiversity and healthy eating. In addition, the people who look after the gardens will be able to pass on their knowledge to the children.
Gardens include different varieties of culinary and medicinal herbs, local fruit and vegetables; nurseries to reproduce seeds in order to both preserve biodiversty and to avoid having to buy new seeds every year ; compost for fertilizers, from green waste, manure and ashes. This system not only saves money, but also avoids the use of chemical fertilizers that are harmful to the soil; rainwater recovery system.
Harvests are used in schools and homes. The surplus is sold at local markets or in local restaurants.
Below are SF Burundi’s gardens:
- Ruhata School Garden;
- Ruhata IKIREZI Community Garden which aims to preserve local eggplant varieties;
- Buhiga Experimental Garden for seed multiplication and preservation;
- Ruhata Indigenous Peoples’ Community Garden;
- Garden of Mesenga Community for Biodiversity in Gitega for the preservation of local maize;
- Kirundo Community Garden;
- Gahekenya School Garden.
Some of these gardens can be found online here.
- Ark of Taste Project
The Ark of Taste project is an online catalog created by Slow Food International in 1996. It is the world’s largest catalog of cultural and traditional biodiversity related to food and agriculture. It includes thousands of plant varieties, animal breeds and traditional food products (including bread, cheeses, cured meats and sweets), highlighting the risk of their disappearance, saving them from extinction, and educating institutions and consumers about the need to protect them.
The Network of Slow Food Burundi Communities identified the following local endangered products:
*The local name, when available, is included in brackets:
- Honey
- Sorghum
- Eleusine
- Cleome gynandra
- Patato cafre (inumpu)
- Winged yam (ibisunzu)
- Hoffe (amatugu)
- Maize (ibigori vy’amasega)
- Inyambo (long horned cow)
- Sorghum beer
- Sorghum paste and eleusine
- Sweet squash
- Salanum nigrum
- Passion fruit (maracuja)
- Fifi banana (Akamaramasenge): dessert banana variety
- Igisahira : variety of cooking banana
- Igitsiri: banana juice/beer-wine variety
- Ikigurube: dessert banana variety
- Incakara: variety of cooking banana
- Mbwazirume: variety of cooking banana
- Kayinja: banana juice /beer-wine variety
- Igisukari: dessert banana variety
- Impande : Kind of peanut that is less recognized in Burundi
- Livid amaranth
- Ibiharo: Variety of wild beans climbing to trees up to more 5 meters with lots of branches
- Indugu: variety of African eggplant from Burundi
- Sheep
- Eggplant (Intore z’i Burundi)
- Peruvian cockerel (Intumbaswa)
- Colocase (Amateke)
- Leeks
- Annona (Umutima w’impfizi)
- Mango fruit
- Avocado fruit
- Sweet potato
- Milk (from local breed cows)
- Butter (from cows)
- Cheese
These products stand out for their tasty, delicious and natural qualities. Rich in diverse and naturally sourced nutrients, they strengthen the human immune system and contribute to preventing chronic diseases, which predominantly affect children under five years old suffering from stunting as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
- The Slow Food Farms Project
A Slow Food Farm is a parcel of land used for agricultural purposes on which the farmer grows plants and cereals or raises animals for human consumption, in accordance with the principles of Agroecology.
By integrating these farms into local, resilient food systems, Slow Food Farms network not only enhances farmers’ livelihoods, but also ensures fair compensation and long-term economic stability.
Until the end of December 2024, SF Burundi had two Slow Food Farms:
JC FARM COMPANY S.A located in Nyarusange-Gitega: it cultivates maize, eleusine, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and onions. Pig breeding also takes place in the farm.
HEALTH FOOD located in Buhiga-Karuzi: it cultivates local maize, pineapple, papaya, Japanese prune , eggplant, livid amaranth, soy and passion fruit). It combines agriculture with beekeeping, along with rabbit, sheep, and goat farming.
The goal is to reach at least 10 Slow Food Farms registered in the Slow Food Burundi Network by July 2025.
An example of traditional and healthy food from Burundi:
Ingredients: a sweet squash; corn; eggplant; beans mixed with : salanum nigrum (wild vegetable), spinach, pigweed (amaranthus blitum), poitou cabbage, tomato, leeks; palm oil, cooking salt.
Picture credits: Slow Food Burundi