Working Paper No. 24 of 2017 on a Scoping Study on Burundi's Agricultural Production in a Changing Climate and the Supporting Policies

Abstract

Climate change will impact on agricultural production and productivity around the world and the agricultural sector will have to adapt to climate change in order to achieve global food security. The general consensus among experts is that agriculture is highly vulnerable to the increased frequency of severity and unpredictability of extreme weather-related events caused by climate change, which is manifested in hurricanes, droughts, floods, rising sea levels, among others. From the East Africa Climate Change Projections published by the International Panel on Climate Change (2007), Africa will warm up during this century and in all seasons. For East Africa, it’s expected temperatures will increase by 3°C to 4°C from 2080 to 2099 period compared to the 1980 to 1999 period. Moreover, this will be followed by dryness across most of eastern Africa even though the projections for East Africa, point out an increase in rainfall for the same period. Burundi agricultural sector is the main contributor to food security and contributes approximately 46% of GDP. Despite its importance, the sector is characterized by high production risks due to its over-dependence on rain-fed agricultural system. This makes climate change a threat to Burundi’s food security. There are several constraints in achieving food security in Burundi.