Burkina Faso/Ministry of Agriculture: Two projects to increase agricultural production and improve food security launched

On May 21, 2024, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries launched two projects. These are Projet 2 du Programme de renforcement de la résilience à l'insécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle au Sahel, composante Burkina Faso (P2-P2RS-BF) and Projet intégré de développement des chaînes de valeur maïs, soja, volaille et poisson et de résilience (PIMSAR). The implementation of these two new projects is expected to boost agricultural, livestock and fisheries production, improve food and nutritional security, create jobs and strengthen the resilience of populations.

The projects launched today will help to develop the maize, rice, soybean, sorghum, wheat, yam, sweet potato, potato, poultry and fish value chains, as well as developing thousands of hectares with full or partial water control.hectares in total or partial water control to reinforce food and nutritional security, the resilience of vulnerable communities and support farmers to increase agricultural production. According to the Deputy Minister for Animal Resources, Amadou Dicko, these projects will directly affect around 155,000 farming households, 986,746 indirect beneficiaries, all of whom are at least 50% women and young people, and around 7,500 internally displaced people.

Specifically, PIMSAR aims to contribute to the integrated and inclusive development of the maize, soybean, poultry and fish value chains, to strengthen food and nutritional security and resilience to climate change. A total of 30,000 direct and 240,000 indirect beneficiaries will be impacted by the project, which will be implemented in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre, Centre-Ouest and Hauts-Bassins regions.

The main beneficiaries will be family agropastoralists, who are at risk of losing their livestock and land due to climate change or the security crisis, unemployed young people, women heads of household, etc. PIMSAR will also target internally displaced persons through the reconstitution of their productive capital in areas of origin or recapitalization in host areas.

The implementation of PIMSAR activities should result in 5,000 farms and agricultural holdings being equipped with solar energy systems, 3 poultry and fish feed production units being set up, and 5,000 poultry and fish farms using quality feed. Also planned are 20 storage facilities for corn and soybeans, 100 fish processing facilities and 3 poultry distribution markets. The project has an overall cost of over 34 billion FCFA.

P2-P2RS is scheduled to run from 2023-2027, and will cover 33 communes in six regions. P2-P2RS is part of the program to strengthen resilience to food and nutritional insecurity in the Sahel, which covers the period 2016-2036, and comprises 4 5-year phases. The first phase was implemented between 2016 and 2022, and enabled the construction of dams and public irrigation schemes.

P2-P2RS builds on the achievements of P1-P2RS. It will reach 125,000 direct beneficiaries, at least 50% of whom are women, the majority of whom are heads of household, as well as 750,000 indirect beneficiaries.

P2-P2RS is financed to the tune of CFAF 35 billion by the African Development Bank (ADB) Group, for a total cost of CFAF 39.22 billion. The PIMSAR, for its part, will receive support of 27 billion FCFA from the AfDB, for a total cost of around 35 billion FCFA.

According to Daniel Ndoye, the AfDB's Country Manager in Burkina Faso, the support given to these two projects testifies to his institution's readiness to strengthen its interventions in Burkina Faso's agro-pastoral sector, especially at a time when the country is resolutely committed to implementing the 2023-2025 agropastoral and fisheries offensive. The fact that the two projects are in line with national priorities and the Bank's strategy, particularly its operational priorities, also tipped the scales in Burkina's favor.

The beneficiaries, through the voice of Alioune Badara Traoré, Secretary General of the National Chamber of Agriculture, say that they see these projects as an opportunity for Burkina Faso to develop its agricultural sector. through these projects, an opportunity for the agricultural world to work towards achieving the objectives of the 2023-2025 agropastoral and fisheries offensive. "To benefit from the hoped-for fruits of these projects, we producers need to work towards virtuous management of the investments that will be made for our benefit by the projects," added Alioune Badara Traoré.

Source: lefaso.net/