TITLE:
Understanding Household Poverty among Landless Returnees in Burundi
AUTHORS:
Canesius Ndayikeza, Theodore Mbazumutima, Robert Eliakim Katikiro
KEYWORDS:
Landless Returnees, Poverty, Income, Reintegration
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.13 No.4,
April
29,
2025
ABSTRACT: During the 2000s, a significant number of Burundians who had fled the country during the crises of 1972 and 1993 returned. Despite efforts to reintegrate over 500,000 returnees between 2002 and 2011, reintegration has not always been successful, especially for those who fled during the 1972 crisis. Some families have been unable to obtain any land or have only been able to retain small plots for a decade after returning to Burundi from exile. In such circumstances, it is reasonable to question how these families can generate income to meet their basic needs in a country where the majority of the population’s income is derived from farming. This paper aims to investigate the underlying factors contributing to poverty among landless returnee households in Burundi, over a decade after their return to the country. The methodology employed for the study was a phenomenological analysis of the poverty of households of landless returnees. To achieve this, data was collected during November 2023 from a sample of landless returnee households. Participants in the study were selected using a non-random snowball sampling technique. Information from households was triangulated with that collected from local authorities and civil society organisations working with returnees. The research entailed conducting individual interviews and focus group discussions with representatives from landless repatriate households, local authorities, and civil society organisations. The results showed that landless returnee households are generally very poor households headed by women and men who have failed to recover their land through the legal mechanisms put in place to do so. The landless returnees live mainly on daily agricultural labour, working in other people’s fields. The income earned is mainly spent on pursuing land reclamation cases, with little investment in household education, nutrition, and health. Due to the precarious economic situation, most households can only afford one meal a day, resulting in children being withdrawn from school due to lack of resources. The male children usually embark on economic adventures as illegal migrants to countries in the sub-region, particularly Tanzania, while the girls share the misery with their parents. This financial instability is taken advantage of by some malicious non-repatriates who initiate prolonged legal processes to deplete the limited resources of the returnees and end up dispossessing them of their land. Without strengthening the human capital of landless returnee households, there is a risk that poverty will be passed on from one generation to the next, which could be a source of future conflict. This study recommends the development of more inclusive rural policies that are sensitive to landless returnees from the 1972 crisis and enable their long-term sustainable reintegration.