Institutional aspects and support strategies followed by an aid project in Burundi constitute the focus of this article. The project was based on an agreement between donor and government consisting of three main points. First, development activities must build upon local dynamics; second, external aid must be considered supplementary to the efforts of both private and public actors; third, external support must be flexible and adaptable. This led to a number of major problems confronting the project with respect to the institutional environment and the support organization on the one hand and the attempt to fulfil the project goals. One particular lesson learnt from this experience was to resist the temptation to substitute the activities of the local actors by the project. Another lesson was to better stop co-operation when agreements are repeatedly not respected. It turned out that an institutional support strategy has only a chance to succeed if minimum conditions are met and partners should agree to analyze jointly their global financial situation. Another necessary precondition turned out to be the agreement on the system of negotiations. contracts, respect of agreements, participation, and evaluation. In addition, the will to discuss publicly development priorities, utilization of resources, and distribution of responsibilities had to exist.
