Burkina Faso/Pre-forum of investment of the FAO "Hand in Hand" initiative: Burkina Faso's investment plan of more than 500 million dollars on the agenda
In order to better prepare Burkina Faso's participation in the investment forum on the "Hand in Hand" initiative scheduled to be held in Rome, Italy, from 17 to 19 October 2022, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a pre-forum workshop this Friday, 23 September 2022 in Ouagadougou. The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Delwendé Innocent Kiba, presided over the opening ceremony.
The "Hand in Hand" initiative, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Delwendé Innocent Kiba, was adopted by the FAO to enable member countries to meet their promises to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the fight against hunger and poverty.The initiative was adopted by the FAO to enable member countries to keep their promises to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in the fight against hunger and poverty. Indeed, in Burkina Faso, the food security situation is not very encouraging while poverty persists.
Referring to the 2018 Harmonized Household Living Conditions Survey (EHCVM), (INSD, 2022), the Minister of Agriculture indicated that the incidence of hunger in Burkina Faso is still high.agriculture indicated that the incidence of poverty in our country is 41.4%, including 8.2% of extreme poverty. Thus, he warned, 8 out of 100 people live in households that will not be able to provide adequate food for their members, even if all their income was spent on food.
In terms of numbers, an estimated 1.7 million people live in extreme poverty in Burkina Faso. This situation, in the Minister's opinion, requires redoubling efforts to bring about a profound and concrete change in the agricultural sector to reposition food systems on the path to sustainable development. It is in this perspective that the "Hand in Hand" Initiative, implemented in several developing countries including Burkina Faso, was adopted at the 163rd session of the FAO Governing Council held in December 2019.
The Minister sees this initiative as an opportunity to invest more in the agro-sylvo-pastoral sector and especially to target key sectors. Work has been done in this sense. This work has identified sectors for investment. The fruit of this work will be presented to participants from the private sector, and to technical and financial partners, during this pre-forum initiated by FOA.
The ultimate goal is to arouse their interest and to take into account possible suggestions for improvement agreed upon before the big meeting in Rome. As part of the development of Burkina Faso's investment plan, regions such as the East, the Center-East, the Center-West and the South-West have been targeted. As for the priority value chains, the choice was made for the rice, livestock, sesame and groundnut sectors, as well as non-timber forest products such as moringa and shea.
Justifying these choices, the Minister explained that scientific work has made it possible to take into account the level of poverty and the agricultural potential of the regions concerned and especially the return on investment. This will allow the improvement of the actors' income. "It is this work that has been done and which has resulted in an investment plan that will really boost agro-sylvo-pastoral production in our country with of course the support of the national and international private sector as well as TFPs," said Minister Kiba.
A consistent investment
The financial envelope of this investment plan is estimated at over 500 million dollars. However, it should be noted that the successful implementation of this investment plan depends on the commitment of all stakeholders. For his part, the Minister gave the assurance that the government will spare no effort for the full success of the implementation of the initiative in Burkina Faso.
Returning to the description of the "Hand in Hand" initiative, the FAO representative in Burkina Faso, Dauda Sau, noted that it is based on factual data conducted by the countries that have joined the initiative and belonging to the countries. This, in order to accelerate agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty (MDG 1) and eliminate hunger and all forms of malnutrition (MDG 2).
"Using the most sophisticated tools available, including modeling and advanced geo-spatial analysis, the initiative identifies the greatest opportunitys to increase incomes and reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities of the rural poor, who make up the vast majority of the world's poor. It uses these tools to better seize economic opportunities and to improve the targeting and adaptation of policy interventions, innovation, financing and investment, and institutional reform accordingly," Sau said.
The UN system is supporting the government of Burkina Faso in the FAO initiative. "Let us not think that a country that suffers from difficulties cannot dream; let us not think that a country in difficulty does not have the right to put in place initiatives, with the support of the United Nations system, to move forward. We can do what we have to do in Rome," said the coordinator of the United Nations system in Burkina Faso to further galvanize the Burkinabe party. The investment forum scheduled for 17 to 19 October 2022 will bring together about fifteen countries selected from the "Hand in Hand" initiative.
Source: lefaso.net/
