ABSTRACT
The new Burundian national agriculture policy highlights the importance of the agricultural sector and smallholder farmers in Burundi in ensuring food security and reducing poverty. The Welthungerhilfe programme in the province of Kirundo in northern Burundi was concerned about the availability of seeds during the planting season. Welthungerhilfe developed the plan for construction of the storage facilities and a training programme for their management. This plan and approach later inspired other organizations to invest in seed banks as well. In the beginning, the communities received financial and technical assistance to build the seed banks. All seed bank members are smallholder farmers, who have access to the facilities in their location. Welthungerhilfe cooperated with the Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi (ISABU) on trials of various varieties of potatoes, which eventually resulted in the choice of one variety that was then promoted in the region by providing plants to farmers who would grow and multiply them.
