Exploring competencies and learning for sustainable agriculture: Towards a competence-based sustainability approach for agricultural education in Burundi

This PhD research, conducted within the context of Burundi, explores how competence-based education (CBE) can advance sustainable agriculture education in Burundi’s vocational agricultural schools (ITABs). It identifies eleven key sustainability competencies and examines how they are integrated into curricula and fostered through the Participatory Integrated Planning (PIP) principles. The findings reveal that while CBE structures exist, sustainability competencies—particularly attitudinal and behavioural—remain underdeveloped. The PIP educational principles proved transformative, enhancing students’ and teachers’ sustainability competencies, self-efficacy, and professional growth through real-world, participatory learning. The research advances sustainability competence theory by contextualising it within post-conflict agricultural education and demonstrates how autonomy, relatedness, and competence—core principles of Self-Determination Theory—can inspire learner agency and change. Practically, it calls for curriculum reform that embeds systems thinking, collaboration, and reflective practice to cultivate effective change agents capable of leading Burundi’s transition towards sustainable agriculture and resilient rural livelihoods.