The Kugwiza Project: Transforming agriculture in Burundi

Bujumbura, Burundi –11 June 2024 – The Great Lakes Accelerated Innovation Delivery Initiative Rapid Delivery Hub (AID-I GLR), locally known as the ‘Kugwiza Project,’ is making significant strides in enhancing and improving the agricultural value chains of key food-security crops and livestock in Burundi. Initiated in January 2023, Kugwiza brings transformative change to Burundi’s agriculture and livestock sector.

Since its inception, Kugwiza has focused on key crops such as beans, cassava, maize, orange-fleshed sweet potatoes, rice, and livestock (insemination, vaccination, poultry, and fodder). The project collaborates with local partners and national seed systems, leveraging the expertise of World Vision, l’Association de coopération et de recherche pour le développement (ACORD), Confédération des Associations des Producteurs Agricoles pour le Développement (CAPAD), Welthungerhife (WHH), Vétérinaires Sans Frontières (VSF), World Food Programme (WFP) and One Acre Fund.

These partnerships ensure the dissemination of innovations for the effective adoption of improved agricultural and livestock technologies, supported by national research centers, particularly l’Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU), and CGIAR centers (mainly the International Potato Center (CIP), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, and support service providers such as the Seed Systems Group (SSG) and Scientific Animations Without Borders (SAWBO)).

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