Mushroom farming in Burundi is taking place in small growing spaces, laboratories and processing facilities where producers are working to increase output and reach more customers. In Bujumbura, Kayanza and Ngozi, 12 cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises have received cost-sharing grants through Isoko Irama, a 3-years project funded by the European Union.
For two recipients, SOHABU and COJEDA, the work includes producing mushroom spawn locally, testing ways to maintain humidity and using equipment to store and process harvested mushrooms. Their ambitions also extend to the kitchen: making mushrooms a more regular part of meals in Burundi.
Mushroom farming in Burundi where agricultural land is scarce
Mushrooms can be grown in a small space, making cultivation a practical option where agricultural land is limited. Their relatively short growing cycle allows frequent harvests, but production depends on growers knowing how to manage growing conditions, store their mushrooms and find buyers.
Availability remains limited in some areas of Burundi, and mushrooms are not yet a regular ingredient in many households. Producers are therefore working on both cultivation and sales.
In Bujumbura, a laboratory to produce mushroom spawn locally
Founded in 2015 and based south of Bujumbura city, the Burundi Horticultural and Poultry Society, known as SOHABU, combines mushroom production with training and research.
SOHABU was among the first businesses to receive a cost-sharing grant in early 2025 under the Isoko Irama project. With project funding, it has established a laboratory to produce second-generation spawn, the material used to start mushroom cultivation, with the aim of reducing dependence on imports.
Research at its facilities also focuses on irrigation techniques that can maintain the steady humidity mushrooms need, while improving working conditions for growers.
“Our strength lies in the quality of our seeds and the training we provide,” says Emile Nsengiyumva, who leads SOHABU. “We are currently building a network of mushroom growers and plan to open a shop in Bujumbura city centre. We want to make mushrooms a regular feature in Burundians’ meals, just as amaranth is.”
In Ngozi, equipment for processing and storage
The Cooperative of Young People Committed to Agricultural Development, known as COJEDA, was registered in 2021 and has 13 members: six women and seven men. Like SOHABU, it has begun producing second-generation spawn.
“This project has provided us with a fully equipped office at the Ngozi Centre, as well as a fridge and a dryer,” says cooperative leader Patrice Barutwanayo. “We have received training in accounting, processing and marketing, and have been put in touch with other stakeholders.”
COJEDA operates three mushroom production sites and reports having created seven full-time jobs and 200 seasonal or casual roles. It mainly sells its mushrooms in Gitega, Burundi’s political capital, Bujumbura city and central Ngozi.
The cooperative is also training Batwa participants in mushroom cultivation. The Batwa are an indigenous group that has long faced discrimination in Burundi.
The Isoko Irama project
Isoko Irama - Sustainable and market-oriented strengthening of Burundian agricultural entrepreneurship - runs from October 2023 to March 2027. Funded by the European Union under the SESA programme, Support for entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, it works in the former provinces of Kayanza and Ngozi, now part of Butanyerera province, and in Bujumbura municipality.
It works with agricultural cooperatives and businesses across the banana, honey and mushroom sectors to strengthen production and access to markets. In the mushroom sector, cost-sharing grants finance production, processing, marketing and training activities.
Reaching customers in Burundi’s cities
For COJEDA, the next target is to increase annual production to 50 tonnes, which Barutwanayo estimates would be worth 400 million Burundian francs. This is a production target, rather than a result already achieved. The cooperative also hopes to export mushrooms.
SOHABU’s planned shop in central Bujumbura would provide another sales outlet. Alongside the laboratory and cultivation trials, it is a concrete next step towards Nsengiyumva’s ambition: selling mushrooms that customers will take home and cook regularly.