BURQA Watershed Initiative — Heineken Ethiopia's Bedele & Harar Water-Balancing Programme

Heineken's two Ethiopian breweries, in Bedele (Oromia) and Harar, draw from water-stressed catchments. Since acquiring Bedele Brewery in 2011, the company nearly halved its water-use ratio, to 5.1 hl of water per hl of beer by 2014, through in-plant efficiency measures, and reports a further roughly 230,000 m3 reduction in operational water consumption over the following five years.

Beyond the brewery gate, Heineken Ethiopia partnered with World Vision Ethiopia and the Dutch water consultancy Acacia Water on the BURQA initiative (named for the Oromo word for 'spring'), restoring degraded land in the Dabena catchment around Bedele and the Hakim Gara catchment around Harar through soil and water conservation, forest and landscape restoration, and community engagement, with a stated aim of strengthening water security for more than 55,000 households across both catchments.

The programme's first phase (2020-2023), budgeted at 50 million Ethiopian Birr, is reported to have reached roughly 30,000 people directly; company materials cite 2.5 million trees planted under the wider initiative. An independent Acacia Water baseline report (July 2024) - covering biophysical, socio-economic and governance indicators ahead of a planned Phase II - records modelled water-balance ratios of 190% for Harar-Hakim Gara and 192% for Bedele-Dabena, meaning restoration activities are estimated to replenish substantially more water than the two breweries withdraw.

As with most corporate 'water balance' claims, these ratios are modelled estimates from a company-commissioned assessment rather than independently audited hydrological measurements, and BURQA's biodiversity outcomes are not separately quantified in available reporting.

Read the full analysis: https://www.heinekenethiopia.com/our-sustainability-story/environmental-pillar/