Burundi

National Focal Point

• Institut Géographique du Burundi (IGEBU) (Burundi Geographical Institute)

National Strategic Documents and Timeframe

• NDC (2020-2030)
• National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA)
• Burundi Vision 2025
• Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategic Framework (2012-2015)
• National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012)

National Institutional Arrangements

Burundi’s NDC provides that at the institutional level, the Ministry of Water, the Environment, Land Management and Urban Planning, with its departments and personalized institutions such as IGEBU and OBPE, handles matters relating to climate change. For the fulfilment of its mission, the Ministry enjoys the support of frameworks for dialogue such as the National Environment Commission, the Sectoral Group on Water, Sanitation and the Environment (GSEAE), the National Water Partnership (PNE-Bu), and the National platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management.

Priorities and Needs

The NDC highlights that the Burundian economy is dominated by the primary sector. The current production structure is dominated by subsistence farming, making the economy very vulnerable and fragile due to its dependency on climate conditions. As various sectoral adaptation vulnerability assessment studies have shown, climate change affects every sector of the country’s economy, particularly agriculture. The NDC states that studies show that in Burundi, through 2050, the average annual temperature will by 1°C, rainfall will rise by roughly 10%, and the precipitation regime will be disrupted such that there will only two seasons remaining: a rainy season and a dry season. It explains that these climate changes will engender a large number of risks associated with the following phenomena:

• Season creep
• Flooding of swamps and lowlands
• Land degradation and loss of soil fertility
• Shortage of groundwater resources
• Extreme weather events
• Changes to the growing seasons of crops and forests
• Unpredictable movements of pests

The NDC goes on to detail specific impacts relating to climate change In Burundi across various sectors.

Current and Planned Adaptation Efforts

The NDC notes that Burundi’s adaptation priorities are outlined in the following documents:

• National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA 2007)
• National Climate Change Policy (2012)
• National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012)

It then outlines its priorities for adaptation to climate change across various sectors, and the current policy and strategy documents for those sectors:

Water:

National Water Resources Management Policy and Action Plan (2001) and Water Code (Law 1/02 of 26/03/2012 enacting the Water Code in Burundi)

• water control with a view to increasing agriculture and livestock production
• human resources capacity-building in the field of water

Energy:

Sectoral Strategy for the Energy Sector in Burundi (2011) and Law 1/13 of 23/04/2015 reorganizing the electricity sector in Burundi

• hydroelectrical production through developments adjusted to align with the successive growth phase of the Burundian economy

Forestry:

National Forestry Policy of Burundi (2012)

• Development and rational management of forest resources (raising the forest cover rate to 20% by 2025)
• Promotion of forest resources
• Human and institutional capacity-building

Agriculture & Livestock:

National Agricultural Strategy 2008-2015 (2008), National Sustainable Land use Strategy (2007), National Action Programme to Fight Land Degradation

• Increase agricultural production and productivity and development of sustainable production systems that can res-establish food self-sufficiency in the short and medium terms
• Management and sustainability capacity building in the agricultural sector in order to transform subsistence farming into profitable market agriculture managed by professionals
• Introduction of smart agriculture

The NDC also details the components of the priority adaptation programmes identified as part of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012), namely climate risk adaptation and management, and capacity-building, knowledge management and communication.

Finally, the NDC lists the following current initiatives to support adaptation:

• ACCES (Climate Change Adaptation for Soil and Water Resources Conservation) Project, financed by the Special Fund for Energy and Climate
• Watershed Management and Climate Resilience Improvement (PABVARC) Project
• Communication and Early Warning Strategy for Adaptations to Climate Change
• Integration of smart agriculture into the National Agricultural Investment Programme (NAIP)
• National Action Plan
• Various GEF small grant projects

Synergies with Disaster Risk Reduction Efforts

Burundi’s NDC references the National Platform for Risk Prevention and Disaster Management, which is one of the frameworks supporting the Ministry of the Environment in the implementation of the NDC.

Requirements for Additional Planning, Financial and Technical Capacities

Burundi’s NDC sets out its adaptation needs that have been identified to reduce Burundi’s vulnerability and boost its resilience. These relate to human, institutional, technical and financial capacity-building, as well as technology transfers.

In terms of Human and institutional capacity-building needs, the country needs to:

• Inform, educate and communicate about the climate, climate risks and adaptation technologies
• Strengthen the aptitudes of actors (especially women and farmers) in new technical processes, in the interest of intensified, sustainable production methods
• Encourage technology transfers between research institutes and agro-sylvo-pastoral actors
• Support institutions in defining adaptation priorities by socioeconomic sector and foster inter-sectoral consistency, namely during the development of the National Adaptation Plan

In terms of technical and technology transfer needs, the country needs to:

• develop access to water while enhancing the efficiency of its use
• promote intensified water-efficient agriculture
• provide security for animal and fishing production, and promotion of associations
• support facilities that use renewable energy sources
• improve communications on climate risks and adaptation scenarios

The NDC asserts that most of the climate change adaptation actions identified in previous national and sectoral action plans have not yet been implemented for want of the financial means to do so. It then summarises the financial needs for implementation of the NDC, setting out the cost of various programmes. In total, these come to US$1,493,590,000. Of this, US$3,719,000 is for climate risk adaptation and management.

Monitoring and Evaluation

The climate risk adaptation and management programme identified as part of the National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change (2012) involves establishing functional monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, as well as knowledge management and information mechanisms.