Enhancing resilience to flood and drought through a unique combination of innovative climate adaptation tools, technologies, and practices in Burundi

Description: Project Goal and Objectives

The overall goal of the programme is to increase the resilience of people and institutions in Burundi to (climate change-induced) flood and drought events through the implementation of a unique combination of innovative adaptation technologies supported by information technology.

The project aims to consolidate synergies and adopt innovative and resilient flood drought management actions from selected regions in Burundi. The overall goal of the project translates into the following key objectives:

1. Implementation of information framework and services, to garner insight in weather-related data to improve analyses and decision making with regards to flood and drought events.
2. Implementation of innovative adaptation tools, technologies, and practices to prevent flooding and enhance resilience to drought by harnessing water for irrigation purposes.
3. Strengthening and improving the capacity of key stakeholders in flood and drought risk management at regional, national, and local levels to undertake innovative adaptation actions that reinforce their resilience to flood and drought events.
4. Support existing channels and networks or develop new ones for flood and drought information generation and dissemination at national and sub-national level. 

Upscaling Project Burundi

A pilot project was implemented in 2022 that aimed to demonstrate the effectiveness of a water-filled mobile flood barrier to enhance resilience to flood and drought risk. This project was completed successfully and to the satisfaction of local stakeholders, so much so that the President of Burundi presented this during Conference of the Parties (COP)27 in Egypt. Due to its success, it was decided to scale up this technology in Burundi to increase the realization of flood and drought Adaptation Benefits (ABs). It was furthermore decided to expand not only the regional scope but also the scope of the adaptation measures to mitigate flood and drought risks. An initial unique portfolio of innovative solutions has been designed centred around the water-filled mobile flood barrier.

Type of services provided: 

• Deployment of SLAMDAM, a mobile flood barrier to prevent flooding.
• Deployment of SLAMDAM as a water harnessing infrastructure.
• Deployment of solar pumps and irrigation systems.
• Deployment of solar powered cold storage units.
• Deployment of early warning systems.
• Deployment of weather information systems.
• Smart agricultural practices and technologies.
• Flood and drought consultancy services.
• Flood and drought intelligence services including hydrodynamic modelling.
• Data driven flood risk assessments.
• Capacity building and training.
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Gender assessments.
• Environmental and Social Impact Assessments.

Dates (start/end): 1 August 2024 – yet to start but concept note approved

Name of client: Office Burundais pour la protection de l'environnement