Development assistance and Boserupian intensification under geopolitical isolation: The political ecology of a crop-livestock integration project in Burundi.

• Burundi's isolation means that agricultural development actors must consider different approaches. • An agroecological model of Boserupian intensification makes sense in a place like Burundi. • Agricultural development approaches are co-produced as their implementation is modified across multiple scales. • Agricultural development knowledge is contested within an international institution. While the New Green Revolution for Africa, a donor supported approach emphasizing high external input agriculture, has been in vogue in many African countries, politically isolated states like Burundi face a different set of constraints and opportunities. Due to political irregularities, international human rights concerns, and tensions with its neighbors, Burundi has been increasingly isolated from international markets. This isolation, combined with poor households more limited access to credit, means that agricultural development actors must consider different approaches to improving agricultural production and household food security. One such initiative, known as the Crop Livestock Integration Project (CLiP), focused on crop-livestock integration and intensification using locally available and affordable resources. An assessment conducted by the author in late 2016 suggests that CLiP was promoting an agroecological model of pro-poor, Boserupian intensification that makes sense in a place like Burundi. While this innovation was occurring under very challenging political economic circumstances in Burundi, and was contested within the International Crop Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) hierarchy, it may serve as a model for promoting resilience and food security at the community level in a variety of contexts. This case is also an interesting example of how agricultural development approaches are often co-produced as their conception and implementation are modified across multiple scales, and how agricultural development knowledge is contested or subverted within an international development institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]