The current food security crisis faced by populations in the Sahel region has meant that millions of people are without the necessary food or water needed to sustain their families and livelihoods. In Burkina Faso, an estimated total of 3.3 million people out of a population of around 20.4 million are facing acute food and nutritional insecurity.
During 2020, OCADES (Caritas Burkina Faso) has helped thousands of villages gain access to drinking water, better manage their environment through the demarcation of village forests, and boost the local economy by equipping men and women with the needed skills to master the field of agriculture and livestock. Though agriculture is the main profession of the population, it constitutes only around 30 per cent to the country’s GDP.
OCADES Caritas has undertaken a number of activities to professionalise the agricultural profession. In activities undertaken in 2020, over 60 per cent of the people supported in the field of the environment were women (32,113 out of 51,091 producers). In the field of agriculture, which is essentially oriented towards agro-ecology, around 60 per cent of all farmers supported were women. In addition, in the productive water sector over 50 per cent of women received training or support.
In regions such as Dédougou and Boucle du Mouhoun, Caritas is undertaking a range of activities specifically to strengthen the capacities of farmers to produce cereals, vegetables for market gardening, raise poultry, and maintain livestock. In early 2021, OCADES launched a 6-month training session aimed at equipping 50 young men and women as part of its Integrated Development Programme (IDP). The programme is funded by the Ministry of Cooperation of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and its NGO partner Chrétien pour le Sahel (CPS).
According to Fr Andre Toé, Executive Secretary of OCADES Caritas in Dédougou, young people are the protagonists of this programme in creating conditions for empowerment, economic independence, nutrition and food security. “It is true that we have supported and continue to support producers at the grassroots through training sessions and technical support, but this time we wanted to devote special attention to these young people through this professional training,” he said.
At the conclusion of the 6-month training programme, the 50 participants (40 men and 10 women) acquired the knowledge and skills of the agricultural profession and received a Basic Qualification Certificate (CQB). “We want, through the projects and programmes that we are carrying out in the field, to be able to provide Burkina Faso and our region in particular with enough skills, particularly in the agricultural field. That’s why we started with the CQB,” he said.
Bishop of Dédougou, Monsignor Prosper Bonaventure Ky, emphasised the significance of this Caritas project in teaching young rural men and women to be leaders, and to know how to live and work together for the development of the communities to which they belong. “I am very happy that each of them leaves with their parchment and a minimum of material to be able to settle down and produce. I encourage them to be role models in their communities,” the bishop said.
OCADES Caritas strives to reduce poverty and vulnerability, by encouraging people to participate in their own development and by promoting good governance as well as national and international action aimed at fostering economic and social development. OCADES particularly aims to create a fair society, in which everyone has access to social services, drinking water, education and the means of production, especially women.