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Burundi Economy |
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Burundi is a small country in the Great lake region of Africa. Officially it is known as the Republic of Burundi. The Burundi Economy may be considered as the lowest in the world with the lowest GDP per capita in the world. Geographical isolation, population pressures and parse resources are te hreasons attributed to it. The Burundi Economy perefctly represents the land-locked resource-poor country with an underdeveloped manufacturing sector. The backbone of the Burundi Economy is considered as agriculture, accounting for 58% of GDP in 1997. Agriculture supports more than 90 per cent of the labour force, the majority of whom are existining farmers.
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Although Burundi id self sufficient in food production but because of the ongoing civil war, overpopulation, and soil erosion it faced a tremendous contraction. This has contributed to the contraction of the subsistence economy of Burundi by 25 per cent in recent years. Burundi is a net food importer, with food accounting for 17 per cent of imports during the year 1997.
The main cash crop of Burundi Economy is coffee. It, in fact accounted for about 78.5% of exports in 1997. This aspect of Burundi Economy has increased the Burundi's dependency in seasonal yields and international coffee prices. Coffee is the largest state-owned enterprise. In recent years, the government has tried to attract private investment to this sector, but met with little success. There have been efforts to privatize other publicly held enterprises have stalled. Other principal exports include tea and raw cotton. Burundi is the largest banana market in Africa. Little industry that exists in Burundi primarily includes the processing of agricultural exports. Although there has been a n exploration in search of potential wealth in petroleum, nickel, copper but uncertain security situation has prevented the interest of meaningful investors. Industrial development also is hampered by Burundi's distance from the sea and high transport costs.
Lake Tanganyika remains an important trading point of Burundi and thus holds a significant location in Burundi Economy. Since October 1993 the nation has suffered from massive culture-based violence which has resulted in the death of perhaps 250,000 people and the supplanting of about 800,000 others. Foods, medicines, and electricity remain in short supply. Burundi is heavily dependent on bilateral and multilateral aid, with external debt totalling to about $1.247 billion (1.247 G$) in the year 1997. A series of largely abortive 5-year plans initiated in July 1986 in partnership with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund attempted to reform some aspects of Burundi Economy the foreign exchange system, liberalize imports, reduce restrictions on international transactions, diversify exports, and reform the coffee industry.
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