Burkina Faso is known as “Le Pays des Hommes Intègres” (The Land of Honest Men). This is reflected in the kindness, warmth and openness of the training participants that welcomed us last week in their country, that is home to 17 million people. The majority of these people is engaged in agriculture, both subsistence and commercial farming.
Agriculture is a significant part of Burkina Faso’s economy. Some of the country’s agricultural practices are well-known in the region. For example, the water-conserving crop cultivation method called ‘zai’ was originally found in Burkina Faso and used up till today in arid and semi-arid areas to maximize crop survival and yield within the country and far beyond.
Q-Point is engaged in the project (CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE IN BURKINA FASO (OKP-TMT-23-00092), which focuses on three main output areas: Introduction to climate smart agriculture (CSA) & Regenerative Farming, Post-harvest management and Entrepreneurship and agribusiness.
This week, the first training took place in Loumbila, just outside the capital Ouagadougou. Olivia and Lisa gave training around regenerative agriculture to agricultural professionals, among others the staff members of Lycée Privé Technique Professionnel en Agriculture Agroforesterie Agroalimentaire Energies renouvelables et Elevage LPTP 3AE.
During the training
During the training
During the training
A few highlights of this interactive week:
Apart from discussions around regenerative agricultural principles and practices, the training was full of participatory elements. For instance, the L’Atelier Des Sols, a fun and collaborative game intended to playfully learn about the symbiosis of soil life and the issues related to its preservation.
L’atelier Des Sols game
L’atelier Des Sols game
L’atelier Des Sols game
The program also offered a field visit to a Burkinabe farm nearby to see the practices in action: consortium cropping of fruit tree-vegetable-spice combinations for optimal plant growth and pest repellent properties.
Field visit to nearby farm
Field visit to nearby farm
We closed the training week with the design and setup of real-life demo plots on the college site. In four groups, the participants literally dug their hands in the soil to make seed beds for their designed consortium consisting of marketable local crops to be planted in a regenerative way, including mulch and compost. One group applied the zai technique to demonstrate as well. Over time we’ll see the results. After all, you reap what you sow, may the best design win!
Demo plot demonstration
Demo plot demonstration
Demo plot demonstration
Demo plot demonstration
This training was the first of the project and will be succeeded by post-harvest management and agribusiness. Thank you so much for this inspiring week, it was a mutual learning experience for all of us. To be continued…
