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BURUNDI
Presence in the country:
Beneficiary households
Animal health professionals supported
Livestock keepers gained access to animal health services
Animals treated
Animals distributed to poor households
Women improved their professional and/or life skills through empowerment, capacity building or income generating activities
Burundi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is recovering from more than a decade of armed conflict, and, despite its potential, the economy struggles to take off. More than 90% of the 10.16 million Burundians live mainly from agriculture, in a country where the population density can reach 365 inhabitants/km².
The province of Ngozi is one of the most affected by poverty. Here, 69.2% of the population of children under 5 suffer from malnutrition, and chronic morbidity as a result of food insecurity is high. Due to the high density of population, land is fragmented in very small plots with low productivity. The relatively high size of households, the virtual absence of alternative sources of income, the overexploitation of land and the decline in soil fertility are factors that aggravate poverty in this part of the country.
VSF Belgium is working in the province of Ngozi to improve food security and nutrition through holistic livestock-based interventions.
What we do:
- Distribution of goats and chickens to vulnerable households;
- Strengthening public veterinary services and training of community animal health workers (CAHWs);
- Capacity building of beneficiaries in the areas of nutrition, hygiene, family planning, farming and livestock keeping techniques, etc.;
- Building vegetable gardens and composters;
- Strengthening women’s groups.