Rome, 7 May 2010 – The livelihoods of poor rural people have been given a boost thanks to a US$39.6 million grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the Republic of Burundi, the UN rural poverty agency announced today .
 
The grant agreement was signed today in Rome by Denis Banshimiyubusa, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Burundi to IFAD, and Yukiko Omura, Vice-President of IFAD.

“This support to Burundi is in line with IFAD’s vision to promote transparent and competitive agricultural inputs and produce markets with which the poor can profitably engage in,” Yukiko Omura said. “IFAD is committed to work with the government and rural people of Burundi to improve the social and economic standards of their lives.”

The grant will provide funds to the Value Chain Development Programme in the provinces of Gitega, Karuzi, Cibitoke, Kayanza, Muramvya, Bubanza and Ngozi. A growing population and the return of hundreds of thousands of refugees have taken a heavy toll on the rural communities in Burundi. In addition, the average farm size is shrinking and the soil is rapidly degrading with nearly all public land distributed or occupied. Food insecurity and malnutrition are becoming chronic problems for many households in rural areas.

The programme will help to reduce poverty and improve food security in rural areas through the development of agricultural value chains in which the smallholder farmers will play a central role. This programme will improve the quality and value of dairy, rice and other products to increase competitiveness, foster demand and bring better returns across the value chain, in particular smallholder farmers and their organizations.

The Value Chain Development Programme will reach the most vulnerable women, young people and men. The programme is expected to directly benefit 77,500 rural family farm households, or 387,000 people. In addition, it is expected to indirectly benefit some 282,000 people as well as hundreds of grassroots associations, economic groups and service providers in the targeted provinces.

Press release No.: IFAD/33/2010

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) works with poor rural people to enable them to grow and sell more food, increase their incomes and determine the direction of their own lives. Since 1978, IFAD has invested over US$12 billion in grants and low-interest loans to developing countries, empowering more than 370 million people to break out of poverty. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized UN agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agricultural hub. It is a unique partnership of 165 members from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), other developing countries and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).