How families in Burundi are changing their lives in incredible ways

Green Graduation helps people address the barriers that keep them living in extreme poverty, such as food insecurity and social inequality, while also promoting sustainable approaches and improving people’s resilience to climate change. In places like Burundi, climate change is having an increasingly negative impact on rural livelihoods. 

Over a two-year period, Green Graduation participants receive technical and business skills training, financial literacy training, access to financial services such as Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) and coaching and mentoring to improve their well-being and relationships with others. 

We revisited the families we spoke to at the beginning of the programme in 2023 to learn how they’ve been able to make positive changes in their lives.    

Dionise Nyandwi, 48, and Rose Ndabiraha, 42, have seven children. Two years ago, they made a living by selling soil and hand-made pots, but often struggled to feed their family without regular work or livestock. At that time, Dionise shared: “Our situation is really bad. For us to get food, we have to work hard. If we don't find small jobs to earn money, we cannot get food.”

Today, things have changed. The couple own a pig, a goat, hens, and rabbits. They also rent two plots of land where they grow cassava and beans. Through training from Concern’s local partner CAPAD, they have learned how to use and make manure and pesticide. 

Through the programme, Dionise joined a Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) and invested the cash transfer the family received as part of Green Graduation. 

With the interest he made off his investment, he was able to purchase solar panels that not only light the house but also provide the family with a secondary source of income. He and Rose now earn an income through selling the crops they grow, as well as charging people’s mobile phones in their home.

“People from the same VSLA, I charge [their phones] for free, but for others who do not belong in the VSLA, they pay money when charging and I get income in the house. I initiated that activity in order to generate income and also to help the community,” Dionise says.

In the past, the family struggled to afford to send the children to school. When they did attend, the children couldn’t bring books home with them as the roof leaked and the books would be ruined when it rained. Thanks to improvements the family has made on the house, this is no longer a problem.

“Because of Concern’s programme, my children are coming home with copy books,” Dionise says. “When it rained in the night it was catastrophic. Now, we are thankful for everything that has been done.”

One of the best outcomes of Green Graduation is that their 17 year-old daughter Belise, who had previously dropped out of school due to hunger, has now returned to studying. In 2023, she said: “I found that going to school and coming home without eating was not a good thing to do. So I decided to stay at home and help my parents try to get food to eat.”

Fortunately, things have changed. Rose shares with pride: “Now the children go to the school without any problem, and when they are back from school they arrive at home by saying ‘Dear mother, is there anything to eat?’ and I say ‘My child, go and see.’ And they are happy because they find anything, they eat without any problem.”

Dionise and Rose have bright plans for their future.

“The dream that I have in two coming years is that of buying a plot of land for my children, because having a plot of land that is sufficient is a capital to the family,” Dionise says. “Even though you can pass away, the family is still enjoying its benefits. This is the goal I am really working on in years to come.”

For Bosco Nsengiyumva, 33, seeing the change in his family’s life is as simple as sleeping through the night.

“The house I was living in, when it rained, I used to cover myself with matts so the rain couldn’t get us. But now you see the house, I have the shelter on it. Which means that now, even if it rains, I can wake up in the morning and say ‘Hey, it rained here?’” Bosco shares. 

Bosco is married with five children. Today he earns an income selling timber to carpenters while his wife works as a farmer.

“Before joining the programme, the income I generated was too small. But after joining the program, the business really changed. I improved by adding the capital that I had, and now I can have many trees to be used by carpenters, and they get many materials to be used when making chairs.”

As part of the programme Bosco joined a VSLA, which has enabled him and his wife to grow their business and improve their home. Bosco’s wife is a farmer and earns an income by growing cassava, maize, and beans. In the past, she cultivated land for other people, but now she is able to rent her own land to grow crops using a portion of the money that Bosco earns from cutting and selling wood.

When the programme first began, Bosco told Concern: “I want to buy some equipment for the house – dishes, things we need at home. I also think about buying some livestock, such as goats that could help us a lot in our daily lives. Livestock will multiply and if we are in need, we can sell them and get money to meet that need.”

Two years later, he has met these goals. He owns a hen and four goats, and he and his wife have been able to purchase items to improve their home life including a table and chairs.

“Nowadays I have bought all materials like dishes, forks, cups, jerry cans and also other things I use when cooking. Now all materials are here inside,” Bosco says. “The children were very happy to see all those materials in the house.”

The family has purchased a plot of land where Bosco grows lemons, mangos and other fruits. They also have a home garden, growing onion, cabbages and other vegetables. All of this produce not only feeds the family, but can be sold to generate additional income.

Bosco’s children used to eat mostly cassava leaves, but thanks to what he and his wife are able to grow they now they eat a health mix of vegetables, beans, and food prepared with milk.

“In the training that we received we learned how we can really feed our families using the three categories of food, like vegetables and the food that gives strength, and digestion,” he says. “The children eat food that is well prepared.”

Bosco is proud of what he has achieved and hopes to buy a cow in the future.

“Before joining the program I was very poor. I used to spend the whole night without eating, but nowadays the family can’t spend the night without taking something to eat, now we eat very well,” he says. 

Samuel Ndagijimana, 41, and his wife Julienne Kwizera, 30, have 10 children. They used to eat once a day – but now they are growing their own food.

“Before we used to cultivate for other people but nowadays, we are cultivating in our own farms,” Samuel shares. “We grow cassava, beans and also there are coffees [plants] that we have in our farms.”

This is a big change for the family. Two years ago, Samuel said: “As a parent, I have many worries because it is not easy to have nine children and not be able to give them food, and send them to bed at night without eating anything. It's a very bad situation.”

Previously, the couple earned an income by working casual labour jobs and often struggled to earn enough to feed their children and send them to school. Today, they are members of a VSLA and generate income by cultivating crops. Through the Green Graduation programme, the family learned healthy nutrition practices and have benefited from a home garden. 

“We are thankful for Concern’s programme because nowadays the children are doing well in their health,” Julienne shares. “Before we used to eat once a day, and even we could have nothing to eat during the night. The children used to get sick most of the times. But these days the children are doing well.

“The agency that used to come to test if children are well fed in the families, the tests they do for us are positive which mean we are doing well in the family.”

As members of a VSLA, the family has more stability and built a new home one year ago. They no longer worry about how to afford medical care if someone falls ills.

“I am thankful for the programme because we are in the VSLA where we save and also get loans. As we got training on how we could be together with others by saving and getting loans, then if my children or a member of the family gets sick, I go in the VSLA and get the money that we have,” Samuel explains.

“Before joining the programme, I was living in a house which wasn’t really good, where if it rains, we used to be rained on, but now we are thankful ... you see now if it rains, I don’t have any problems, I feel comfortable being in it.”

Their fifteen year-old daughter Sandrine has seen the change in her family. She says: “What I appreciate for my siblings is that now we are doing well, because we go to school without any problem, and after coming back from school we find something to eat at home, and it is something that makes us proud when arriving at home. 

“What I really appreciate is that now they are not getting sick every time, because we eat very well in the family ... now we are safe in the family, there is not illness as many times as it used to be.”

In the future, Samuel would like to build another house and have his own cow.

“In coming years, I expect to build another house because my family is growing bigger and bigger, and I expect that I will have another house,” he says. “I’d like to buy a cow because it’s a goal I have established.”