In Burkina Faso, agriculture employs 90% of the population but contributes only about a third of the country’s GDP. These figures show the poor performance of agricultural activity, the main cause of poverty in rural areas.

In the Sahelian north, extensive livestock farming and short-cycle food crops dominate, with harvests that vary greatly from one year to the next depending on rainfall conditions. During the long dry season, producers are unemployed: many migrate temporarily to the cities or to coastal countries in search of odd jobs. This is because producers generally do not harvest enough grain to feed their families all year round and therefore have to earn money to buy extra grain and cover other basic needs.

In the more fertile and better watered southern part of the country, farmers can grow a wider range of crops, with higher yields. The sale of surpluses and cash crops (cotton, sesame, …) enables them to cover their cash needs. However, obtaining good selling prices for their products remains very difficult for most producers.

Generally speaking, family farming suffers from a lack of support and a lack of access to financing.

THE WORK OF SOS FAIM IN BURKINA FASO

Since the early 1980s, SOS Faim has been supporting family farming in Burkina Faso in order to fight poverty and food insecurity in rural areas. We collaborate with local organisations that support, among others:

• the promotion of agro-ecological techniques for the improvement of traditional food production
• the development of market gardening in the dry season, as a complementary source of income
• the establishment of group marketing systems, enabling producers to access remunerative markets.

SOS Faim also supports the development of a vast network of food security stores. These stores are community shops that buy, store and sell cereals and basic food products and enable people in remote villages to buy food at low prices.

Finally, SOS Faim supports a microfinance institution, facilitating the access of agricultural producers in particular to savings and credit services adapted to their needs.