Burundi is one of the poorest countries in the world. This African country is still recovering from years of civil war and faces a major challenge: to rebuild the agricultural sector. This is necessary to increase food security and to tackle poverty.
Agriculture is very important in Burundi, both for the supply of food to the population (which depends for 90% on agriculture), and for export. Most Burundians are poor, mostly because the agriculture produces too little, generates too little income for the farmers and on top of that there are not a lot of other economic activities in the rural areas.
The foundation of de Toekomst Zaaiers (Future Sowers) is a young organization of enthusiasts who dare to dream of a better world, but do not leave it at that. They strongly believe in solidarity and in the will to tackle the problems of poverty and peace. That is why the Future Sowers want to create favorable conditions for the development of disadvantaged young people and give them the opportunity to act on an individual, professional, societal level. They believe that in this way young people will have a positive impact on society and therefore they can help to make it fairer.
The Zorg van de Zaak foundation (now known as Serra Foundation) contributed to two projects of the Future Sowers.
The first project concerns food and income for poor families in Burundi. The foundation of de Toekomst Zaaiers (Future Sowers), together with local partner organization ASODEV Reragakura, focuses on enough food, a decent income and a strong social network. With this project they aim to improve agricultural production and increase the income of the local population. In concrete terms this means focusing on agricultural training, employment (learning on the job) and availability of agricultural products; three crucial tools to increase people’s income and address food insecurity. In addition, this project functions as a knowledge center in the field of agriculture, health and family planning. In the first project phase, 280 poor (agricultural) families in the Bururi region were supported with a start-up capital in the form of small livestock (goats and chickens) and/or good sowing materials. The second phase is the further distribution of goats and chickens among poor families in other regions in Burundi.
The second project to which the Zorg van de Zaak Foundation contributes, is a mobile school for health care, trade and vocational training in Burundi. By providing training, stimulating entrepreneurship and offering internships and jobs to poor young people and women in Burundi, the foundation of de Toekomst Zaaiers wants to offer young people opportunities to develop into professionals and starting entrepreneurs. In the short term this will lead to an increase in the number of professionals, entrepreneurs and jobs in Burundi.
Without the support of the Future Sowers (de Toekomst Zaaiers) and their partners, I would still live in great uncertainty. Thanks to this project, I hope for better food production and income. With that I can not only stand on my own feet, but also give a better future to my 2 children.