Mennonite Central Committee Canada is supporting Help Channel Burundi with a five-year agriculture and livelihoods project in Kirundo, Rutana and Makamba provinces, Burundi.
The area suffers from chronic and pervasive food insecurity due to poverty, low agricultural production, poor soil fertility, widespread environmental degradation and devastating post-harvest losses. This project builds on activities begun in a previous three-year agriculture and livelihoods project implemented by Help Channel Burundi, which saw substantial impacts in improving food security.
This phase is building on these successes by scaling-up activities started in phase 1 and expanding activities to surrounding areas not previously targeted. The main goal is to improve food security among
rural households in these provinces.
The project will work to meet this goal over five years by engaging community groups using an extension model that includes training in agricultural practices such as conservation agriculture, post-harvest management, and Village Savings and Loan Associations. These trainings will also address gender empowerment, nutrition, environmental issues and other community level concerns that perpetuate food insecurity.
These trainings are hoped to indirectly benefit the food security of other household and community
members who may not be a part of the trainings but will benefit from the trainees implementing improved agriculture methods and income sources that will result in increased food production.
Over five years, the project will work with 2,364 households (approximately 13,105 participants).