| ISABU | |
Native name | Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi |
| Founded | 22 June 1962 in Bujumbura, Burundi |
| Headquarters | , Burundi |
  Isabu Headquarters Isabu Headquarters (Burundi) | |
| Website | isabu |
The Burundi Institute of Agricultural Sciences (French : Institut des Sciences Agronomiques du Burundi, ISABU) is an agricultural research institute in Burundi..
ISABU is a public institution supervised by the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock. It was created by Legislative Ordinance No. B7/11 of June 22, 1962. Its governance is defined by this decree and Decree-Law No. 1/123 of July 25, 1988 concerning organic regulations of public establishments in Burundi. [1] It undertakes agricultural research to provide high-performance animal and plant material, and supporting technologies, to farmers in Burundi.
In December 1975 a loan to Burundi from the International Development Association was arranged for a second coffee improvement project. [2] ISABU was to carry out a coffee research program and field trials, and OCIBU the rest of the project. [3]
In December 2019 the sugar company SOSUMO validated a study by experts from ISABU that recommended using new techniques and types of fertilizer to boost production. The authors noted that the existing system had been unchanged for thirty years. SOSUMO agreed to now use organic fertiliser produced by FOMI, which would reduce costs, including foreign currency costs. [4]
In November 2021 it was reported that excessive use of FOMI fertilizers might cause soil degradation. Despite expert advice, both Déo Guide Rurema, Minister of Agriculture and Alfred Niyokwishimira, general director of ISABU, chose not to change the recommended quantities. Radio Inzamba reported that the reason was that they had fallen out with Adrien Ntigacika, who was planning to build a cement factory on ISABU land in Rutana Province. [5]
The economy of Burundi is $3.436 billion by gross domestic product as of 2018, being heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for 32.9% of gross domestic product as of 2008. Burundi itself is a landlocked country lacking resources, and with almost nonexistent industrialization. Agriculture supports more than 70% of the labor force, the majority of whom are subsistence farmers.
Organic coffee is coffee produced without the aid of artificial chemical substances, such as certain additives or some pesticides and herbicides.
Burundi is a producer of columbium (niobium) and tantalum ore, tin ore, and tungsten ore, and some deposits of gold which are designated for export. Burundi has resources of copper, cobalt, nickel, feldspar, phosphate rock, quartzite, and rare reserves of uranium, and vanadium.
The Federación Campesina del Cauca is a non-profit, member-owned federation of coffee grower associations based in the Cauca Department of Colombia. It was found in 1971 as a congress of farmers, but has since formalized into a cooperative serving the interests of 630 coffee farmers from six local sub-groups. The federation was licensed FLO Cert in 2004, and has since acquired certification for producing both conventional and organic coffee.
The International Fertilizer Development Center is a science-based public international organization working to alleviate global hunger by introducing improved agricultural practices and fertilizer technologies to farmers and by linking farmers to markets. Headquartered in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, USA, the organization has projects in over 25 countries.
REGIDESO Burundi is a state-owned water and power distribution company in Burundi.
SOSUMO is a company that grows and refines sugar in Burundi.
FOMI is a company that manufactures fertilizers in Burundi.
Adrien Ntigacika is a Burundian businessman, best known for his involvement in manufacturing fertilizers that blend chemical and organic components.
Vénérand Kazohera is a Burundian businessman. He was a prominent supporter of the ruling CNDD-FDD party under president Pierre Nkurunziza (2005–2020), and remained active under president Evariste Ndayishimiye.
The Burundi Coffee Board, or Office du Café de Burundi, was a coffee industry agency in Burundi, since replaced by ARFIC;.
Kaze Green Economy, or KAGE, is a social enterprise that manufactures wood and charcoal substitutes from biodegradable waste. It has facilities in Gitega and Bujumbura, Burundi.
Office National de la Tourbe, or ONATOUR is a publicly owned enterprise that mines peat in Burundi.
Twitezimbere ASBL is a non-profit association serving low income peasant farmers in Burundi. It assists them in adopting good farming and business practices, obtaining micro-credit, finding markets and so on. Challenges include illiteracy, traditional biases about women's roles, potential environmental damage from development projects and rapid population growth. Twitezimbere Microfinance, originating from and associated with Twitezimbere ASDL, is now a public limited microfinance company under the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Livestock.
The Development Finance Company is a microcredit bank in Burundi.
The Equipment Rental Agency (Agence de Location du Matériel, or ALM, was a public company formed in 2001 that supplied rental equipment to road construction and repair companies in Burundi. It was merged into the The Burundi Road Agency in 2019.
The Burundi Tea Office, or OTB, is a public company that supports the tea industry in Burundi.
The Imbo Regional Development Company, or SRDI, is a public company that sponsors rural development in the Imbo natural region of northwest Burundi.
The Public Real Estate Company, or SIP, was a state-owned company that developed serviced plots and built housing for civil servants and managers in Burundi.
The Burundi Coffee Regulatory Agency, or ARFIC, was a public entity that regulated the coffee industry in Burundi. It replaced the Burundi Coffee Board (OCIBU) in 2009 as part of a privatization program. It was in turn replaced by the Office for Coffee Development (ODECA) in 2020 when the state took back control.