Understanding smallholder farming systems for food security in Burundi

While food demand continues to increase as a result of high population growth, declining land availability has led to high rate of rural poverty and food insecurity in Burundi. An analysis of the scope for improved rural livelihoods and households’ living conditions on small-scale farms was made in this study. The main goal was to gain understanding on the country’s agrarian systems and to identify possible trajectories that could increase both land and labour productivity, and ultimately improve households’ food security and welfare. Five data sources were used to assess the evolution in farming systems in order to capture the actual facts and possibilities for improvement. Finally, a household model which optimises resources use, farm practices and activity choices as to achieve household food security in a context of subsistence farming was developed and applied. Farming trajectories, which can lead to a more sustainable agricultural production, were identified. The results show that agricultural sector remains the engine for the country’s economic growth. Possibilities for economic growth are more grounded in sustainable agricultural intensification in small scale farms. This can increase the agricultural spill over effects in catalysing a more successful transformation toward non-farm sector employment

Assessing the cross-sectional and inter-temporal validity of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) in Burundi

Objective: To examine the cross-sectional and inter-temporal validity of the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) for rural households in Burundi. Design: Longitudinal survey about food security and agricultural production, individually administered by trained interviewers in June 2007 and 2012.SettingNgozi, north of Burundi. Subjects: Three hundred and fourteen household heads were interviewed. Results: Tobit models showed that the HFIAS was significantly correlated with objective measures of food security, in this case total annual food production (P<001), livestock keeping (P<001) and coffee production (P<001) in both 2007 and 2012. This confirms that the HFIAS is cross-sectionally valid and corroborates the findings of previous studies. However, while total food production decreased by more than 25 % in terms of energy between 2007 and 2012, households reported an improvement in their perceived food security over the same period, with the HFIAS decreasing from 139 to 108 (P<0001). This finding questions the inter-temporal validity of the HFIAS. It may be partly explained through response shifts, in which households assess their own food security status in comparison to that of their peers. Conclusions: The evidence from our study suggests that the HFIAS is cross-sectionally valid, but may not be inter-temporally valid, and should not be used as a single indicator to study temporal trends in food security

Cow or goat? Population pressure and livestock keeping in Burundi

Livestock contributes significantly to livelihoods in developing countries. Yet, most academic studies focus on dairy cattle and neglect that many smallholder farmers in mixed-cropping systems prefer goats, sheep, pigs or poultry over cattle. Using a unique dataset from a national representative agricultural survey in Burundi, we estimate the determinants of livestock keeping with a multivariate probit model. We find that wealthier households keep more livestock, but population density and access to markets are also key determinants. Moreover, even the wealthiest households switch from cattle to smaller animals in densely populated regions, where pressure on land is high and access to pastures limited. This has important policy implications since it questions the emphasis of most development programs by NGOs and governments in Sub-Saharan Africa which promote dairy cattle

Cow or Goat? Population pressure and livestock keeping in Burundi

Livestock contributes significantly to peoples’ livelihoods in developing countries. Yet, most studies focus on dairy cattle, overlooking the fact that many smallholder farmers in mixed-cropping systems prefer to keep goats, sheep, pigs or poultry rather than cattle. For this paper we applied a multivariate probit model to a unique dataset from a national, representative, agricultural survey in Burundi, to estimate the determinants of livestock keeping. We found that wealthier households keep more livestock, but that population density and access to markets are also key determinants. Moreover, in densely populated regions, even the wealthiest households prefer smaller animals to cattle, as the pressure on land is high and access to pastures is limited. This has important policy implications as it raises questions as to whether the focus on dairy cattle, which has been adopted in most NGO and governmental development programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, is justified

Historical changes in the traditional agrarian systems of Burundi : endogenous drive to survive from food insecurity

The global farming conditions have gone profound mutations that steadily increased vulnerability among smallholder farmers. As consequence, rural households have set mechanisms of livelihood adaptation in order to preserve consumption requirements and secure the family living. They define livelihood through a complex system and interactions, taking place across scales that lead to emergent properties and self-regulatory mechanisms. This paper provides a detailed account on how traditional agriculture in Burundi, has evolved over time, what triggered the changes and how they have affected the household food security and farmer's attitude in the communities. The country is an agricultural based economy faced by land constraints, market and policy failures, and rapidly changing local climate patterns. The paper gives a historical overview of the organisational and functional features of the agrarian system, and the adaptive changes in farming practices. This brings a good understanding of the relationships between them and their implication on farmer's behaviour and livelihoods. Results show that despite the deteriorating conditions, farmers have managed, over time, to adapt agricultural production to new opportunities and constraints. The paper concludes by showing that farmer's adaptation is not everlasting. The findings of this study highlight that endogenous adaptation has reached some limits in Burundi. Today, the rates of conflicts over resources, poverty and food insecurity among households are very high. Stringent policy support is needed to help farmers sustain agricultural intensification and restore the country's self-sufficiency in food production

Food for survival: diagnosing crop patterns to secure lower threshold food security levels in farm households of Burundi

Background: Burundi is one of the world's poorest countries, coming last in the Global Food Index (2013). Yet, a large majority of its population depends on agriculture. Most smallholder families do not produce enough to support their own families. Objective: To estimate the optimal crop mix and resources needed to provide the family with food containing sufficient energy, fat, and protein. Methods: This study uses mathematical programming to obtain the optimal crop mix that could maximize output given the constraints on production factor endowments and the need to feed the household. The model is calibrated with household-level data collected in 2010 in Ngozi Province in northern Burundi. Four models are developed, each representing a different farm type. The typology is based on 2007 data. Model predictions are compared with data collected during a revisit of the area in 2012. Results: By producing a smaller number of crops and concentrating on those in which they have a comparative advantage, and trading produce and input with other farms, large and medium-sized farms can improve their productivity and hire extra workers to supplement family labor. Predictions of crops to be planted coincided to a high degree with those that farmers planted 2 years after our survey on newly acquired plots. Conclusions: Despite land scarcity, it is still possible for households that own land to find optimal crop combinations that can meet their minimal food security requirements while generating a certain level of income. Nearly landless households would benefit from the increased off-farm employment opportunities. With only 0.05 ha of land per capita, the annotation Nearly Landless is used to highlight the limited access to land observed in this farm category

Modelling crop portfolios that minimize human macronutrient deficiency on subsistence farms in Burundi

In Burundi, many subsistence farmers employ mixed cropping systems in an attempt to provide food for their families in an environment with high risks, few safety nets and limited storage options. In this paper, we studied the crop portfolios that minimize energy and macronutrient deficiency. We accounted for yield variability, seasonality and storage availability. A mathematical programming approach was applied to four different farm types (based largely on farm size) to predict optimal mixes of crops for farmers to achieve the household year-round supply in calories, fats and proteins. The models predicted that farmers could best cover their household needs in terms of calories, fats and proteins by growing fewer crops in a more optimal combination. Bananas and cassava appear in the crop portfolios as sources of energy; growing beans add proteins to the diets and groundnuts and/or soybeans will supply the needed fats. Crop portfolios differ by farm type and change when yield variability and storage is accounted for. Some of the portfolios predicted by the models have a more diverse crop combination and include maize, rice and/or peas additional to the crops mentioned above. Results also highlighted the benefits of basic storage infrastructure in overcoming seasonal shortages. Nevertheless, even if they would choose to apply the proposed crop portfolios, farms with very small land size in Burundi will continue to struggle to supply sufficient food for the family. Further refinement for micronutrient supply, diet quality, food preferences and market purchases may change these findings