Burundi is one of 46 countries on the list of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), low-income countries facing serious structural development problems, which have a low level of human development and are more vulnerable than others in the face of economic and environmental crises.

Although LDCs are among the countries that have contributed the least to carbon emissions in the world, they are at the forefront of the current climate crisis. As the United Nations General Assembly meets today to discuss the progress made in implementing the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (2022—2031), we wanted to show how the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are joining forces to help fund technological innovations to enable vulnerable Burundian populations to face episodes of floods and droughts that are becoming more frequent and intense in the country.

In the town of Mpanda, in northwestern Burundi, a long rubber cord about one meter high and two meters wide snakes through a farmer's field before disappearing into the vegetation.

A woman seeds the land along this waterlogged structure that encircles a large part of the town.

This rubber cord, called Slamdam, was designed both to protect the municipality of Mpanda and its 25,000 inhabitants against floods and to serve as a water reservoir during periods of drought. Floods and droughts have become extreme weather events that are expected to increase in frequency with climate change in Burundi.