| Abstract: Burundi was one of the poorest countries in the world even before the severe civil crisis and ethnic conflict in the 1990s that further devastated living conditions, especially in rural areas. Per capita GNP in 2001 was only US$100, the second lowest in the world.1 Burundi?s 7.4 million people are concentrated in a small geographic area, with a population density of 270 persons per square kilometer, the highest in Africa.2 Poverty in rural areas, where 91 percent of Burundi?s people live, rose from 35 percent in 1992 to 58 percent in 2002. At the same time, urban poverty (mainly in Bujumbura) doubled from 34 percent to 68 percent (nationally, the percentage of poor people rose from 35 percent in 1992 to 59 percent in 1997 and to more than 60 percent in 2002). Overall, income poverty has been at more than 50 percent of the population over the last six years. |
