As stated by the AfDB, the project aims to transform Burundi's agriculture and food systems to contribute to food sovereignty and resilience, and advance the Bank's crosscutting objectives of promoting food security, gender equality, financial inclusion, youth empowerment, climate change resilience, and regional integration. The development objective of BRIDEP is to foster regional integration by enhancing agricultural production, cross-border transport links, and trade facilitation. More precisely, the project aims to: (i) Increase the productivity and production of priority agricultural value chains (maize, rice, pigs and poultry) by scaling up climate-smart agriculture technologies; (ii) promote agro-industrialization and job creation in targeted value chains; (iii) bridge missing and last mile transport links thereby promoting regional integration and trade, and (iv) reduce travel costs and improve road safety.

The Burundi component of the Burundi-Rwanda Integrated Development Project (BRIDEP) responds to the commitment of African Heads of State and Governments and the Bank at the Dakar 2 Summit held in January 2023, to accelerate investments in food and nutrition security and resilience.

BRIDEP focuses mainly on the Ruzizi plain, spanning the borderlands of Burundi and Rwanda, and on Cross Border Roads in northwest and southwest regions in Rwanda. In Burundi, the project will directly affect 120,000 direct beneficiaries, including 80,000 living in the provinces of Bubanza and Cibitoke, and 40,000 in the provinces of Gitega, Karuzi and Muramvya. The target group of the project will be made up of small producers, agri-breeders and young rural people, who are often households with: (i) poor access to production factors and natural resources (e.g.,land and agricultural inputs),and (ii) a very limited level of equipment. The target group also includes cooperatives, farmers ‘organizations, agricultural services, researchers and the private sector. The indirect beneficiaries are made up of a large part of the Burundian population who will benefit from the improvement in the availability and quality of agricultural and livestock products. In Rwanda, the project extends road improvements to the northwest and southwest regions adjacent to Burundi and the DRC, impacting an estimated 2 million people (Burundi:0.6 million and Rwanda: 1.4 million). Beneficiaries include farmers, traders, producers, and the general populace, all set to gain from enhanced road infrastructure and improved connectivity and trade.

AfDB Team Leader:

Chantal Umuhire - Senior Agriculture Officer
Email: c.umuhire@afdb.org

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/request-for-documents. Under the AfDBÕs Disclosure and Access to Information policy, if you feel the Bank has omitted to publish information or your request for information is unreasonably denied, you can file an appeal at https://www.afdb.org/en/disclosure-and-access-to-information/appeals-process.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF AfDB

The Independent Review Mechanism (IRM), which is administered by the Compliance Review and Mediation Unit (CRMU), is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an African Development Bank (AfDB)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may assist you by either seeking to address your problems by facilitating a dispute resolution dialogue between you and those implementing the project and/or investigating whether the AfDB complied with its policies to prevent environmental and social harms. You can submit a complaint electronically by emailing crmuinfo@afdb.org, b.kargougou@afdb.org, b.fall@afdb.org, and/or s.toure@afdb.org. You can learn more about the IRM and how to file a complaint at: https://www.afdb.org/en/independent-review-mechanism/