Burundi is a landlocked country located in the Great Lakes region of Africa. It is one of the smallest and least-developed countries in Africa. It has a population of 14 million people, and 78% of them live below the poverty line (African Development Bank). 

Burundi is essentially an agricultural country, with crop production and animal husbandry contributing about half of the GDP. Climate change is projected to cause higher temperatures and more extreme rainfall that will affect largely the economy and people’s lives due to the heavy reliance on agriculture. Furthermore, poverty hinders people’s capacity to adapt to the changing climate (African Development Bank). 

Extreme rainfall events may negatively affect access to safe water sources as well as hydropower production. Moreover, high urbanization rates combined with poverty create a special concern in urban settlements, in terms of the impacts of disasters and the provision of basic services (African Development Bank).