During the years following the country’s 2003 peace agreement, donor funding flowed rapidly, prompting increased agricultural research spending. Growing violence and political corruption have caused many donors to suspend or cut aid since and are at the reason for the important year-to-year fluctuations in Burundi’s agricultural research expenditures in more recent years.

In 2016, Burundi invested just 0.39 percent of its AgGDP in agricultural R&D.

The total number of agricultural researchers has risen over time in response to the recruitment of young scientists at ISABU and the return to Burundi of a large number of Burundian professors from universities abroad, prompted by improved salary levels in the higher education sector.