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Abstract
This paper deals with the devastating food insecurity in two densely populated provinces in
the north of Burundi as a result of overpopulation and low production capacity in the
aftermath of conflict. We compare data that was collected in the Ngozi and Muyinga Province
in 2007 with data of households interviewed on the same hills in 1996. Households live from
subsistence farming, erratic surplus sales, sales of coffee and banana and occasional off- and
non-farm work. We find that not only did production levels decrease but also total factor
productivity (Malmquist indices calculated with DEA approach) dropped in 83% of the hills
between 1996 and 2007.