Burundi
- 52%
- of children under 5 are stunted
- Second lowest
- GDP in the world
- 12.1 million
- population
A land-locked and densely populated country in East Africa, Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world with more than 70 percent of the population living in poverty. Food insecurity levels are alarming with 52 percent of children under 5 stunted and even higher levels of malnutrition among rural communities.
Some of the drivers of food insecurity in Burundi include poverty, rapid population growth, vulnerability to climate-related shocks, poor access to clean water, and worsening access to basic services such as health and education. A high prevalence of infectious diseases, lack of diversity in diets and poor hygiene make the situation worse.
What the World Food Programme is doing in Burundi
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Combatting malnutrition
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As part of a national strategy to combat malnutrition, WFP implements a stunting prevention programme for children under 5 and the treatment of moderate acute malnutrition using specialized nutritious foods for children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in four of the most food insecure provinces. Food fortification initiatives also play a key role in this strategy.
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Food system
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WFP is working with the Government of Burundi to help building more robust food systems and resilient communities by working with smallholder farmers to increase the quantity and quality of their production and therefore increasing smallholder farmers’ livelihoods by purchasing food from them and creating market opportunities with the Home-Grown school feeding programme. WFP is also working on the value chain production of nutritious flour and milk across the country.
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School feeding
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In addition to serving healthy meals in primary schools to ensure children’s physical and intellectual growth, WFP also pursues nutritional, environmental and economic development objectives by linking smallholder farmers to schools for food procurement, organizing nutrition sensitization campaigns and building fuel-efficient stoves to cook school meals.
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Emergency and crisis response
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WFP provides emergency and gender-responsive assistance in the form of cash transfers to vulnerable people such as refugees, those displaced by climate shocks and Burundian returnees.
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Capacity building
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WFP strengthens the Government of Burundi’s supply chain management (such as building warehouses to store food reserves), nutrition analysis capacities and emergency preparedness. WFP also supports the national social protection system and the government’s implementation of a strategy to combat malnutrition and improve food insecurity.
Burundi news releases
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Avenue du Large 78, Immeuble CEPRODILIC B.P. 6735
Bujumbura
Burundi