Country Profile
Population
Total population as of 2006 is 8,090,000 of which 10% live in urban areas.
Economy
As of April 2006 Burundi is the 4th least developed country in the world in terms of social welfare indicators. 68% of Burundians live on less than $1 a day.
Burundi is a rural country with about 90% of the population engaged in subsistence agriculture. Subsistence means that people have just enough to eat, but do not have spare money for luxury items that are taken for granted in the west.
As Burundi is landlocked, it has few natural resources and negligible industry. Primary exports are coffee and tea. Because of the conflict the production of coffee has since been reduced by half. This is compounded by the decrease of coffee prices in the world market as well. As a result, people are very poor. Decades of civil unrest and genocide have severely affected Burundi’s economy, impoverished the already struggling population and destroyed the country’s chances of attracting outside investment.
Education
The civil war has been very disruptive to education. Few students were attending in the latter part of the 1990’s. In the fall of 2005, the government of Burundi introduced free and basic education for all primary age students. This program of free education gave 300,000 Burundian children the opportunity to go to school. This places an overwhelming demand on the country’s educational infrastructure. The government has put together an emergency plan to add 5,000 teachers and to increase the education budget by more than $1.5 million. They are relying on other countries and relief organizations for donations.
Despite the problems, free primary education represents a turning point for the country. Burundi’s Education Minister, Saidi Kibaya, says this decision to abolish primary school fees is vital to the success of Burundi’s post-war reconstruction and development.
The lack of resources is not the only thing hurting Burundi’s schools. Twelve years of civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people has scarred the country’s children. So many children did not attend school during this time. The Burundian education system has the extra burden of needing to help the children recover from the trauma of war. These children were born in war and have seen war all of their life. The UN children’s agency is hoping that organizations will help the Burundi government ensure that children’s psycho-social needs, as well as physical needs, are being met in the primary school system.
Health
Health conditions in Burundi are poor. Much of the health care system was destroyed during the fighting. Men’s life expectancy was down to 39 years in 2004, compared to 51 years before the conflict started in 1993.
Disability and death from malaria and other diseases has increased. AIDS is a major problem. A 2003 estimate stated that a 250,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS. The number of deaths that same year was 25,000. These numbers are primarily responsible for the low life expectancy.
45% of children under the age of five are moderately or severely underweight. Many children who are now able to go to school go hungry. They have difficulty studying and staying awake due to the lack of nutrition. Daily food intake is around 1300 calories. FDA recommended daily intake is 2000 calories for children over 4 years of age.
