How did civil conflict affect coffee production in Burundi during the 1990s?

During the 1990s, civil strife in Burundi significantly disrupted the nation's agricultural sector, leading to a decline in coffee production by approximately half.1

As the country's principal export crop and primary source of foreign exchange, coffee was heavily impacted by the broader economic instability of the decade. This instability was exacerbated by a 1996 Tutsi-led military coup, which prompted Western and neighboring African nations to impose economic sanctions that hindered all of Burundi's exports. These conflicts, combined with the persistence of traditional subsistence farming and chronic trade deficits, contributed to widespread poverty, with more than three-fifths of the population living in poverty by the end of the 1990s. While coffee production has since rebounded, the period remains a stark example of how political violence and regional embargoes can devastate a nation's economic foundation.21