West Africa - Burkina Faso

IS work in Burkina Faso
IS Partners in Burkina Faso

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Country Information

Burkina Faso is landlocked and predominantly flat, with its North located in the semi-arid Sahel region, and its central and Southern zones located in the dry and humid Savannah belts of West Africa. It shares its borders with Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

Rainfall is both seasonal and variable but there is a trend of decreasing annual rainfall. The country has few valuable natural resources and relies primarily on agriculture for production despite of a relatively high rural population density and the fact that most of the soil is fragile and inherently infertile.
Burkina Faso has a population of about 12,6 million, 85.8% of whom live below the poverty line of $1 per day. The population is growing at a rate of 2.64%, while at the same time the percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS is increasing with the most recent estimate standing at 6.5%.

While a sizeable proportion of the population in the North of the country is nomadic or semi-nomadic, the vast majority of the rural populations are sedentary farmers.
In total 84% live in a rural environment and depend both directly and indirectly primarily on local natural resources for their livelihoods.
A large number of workers migrate every year to the Ivory Coast to join the Burkinabé diaspora of approx. 3 million, most of whom work on plantations.
Burkinabé society is divided into a number of different ethnic groups, many of which are further subdivided into social castes based on role and hierarchy. The Mossi are by far the most populous ethnic group (40%) and occupy the central plateau area of the country.
 

Due to population pressure a lot of Mossi are moving to other less densely populated parts of the country, which may have the potential of causing ethnic tension in the future.
In terms of religion, Islam and traditional beliefs dominate. Christianity has a  smaller following but the fastest rate of growth.

The vast majority (80%) of the population is engaged in subsistence/semi-subsistence farming and/or fishing for their living, while the limited industrial activity is mainly focused on the processing of primary commodities. The difficulties related to the agricultural production such as recurring droughts or floods, high population pressures and the poor soil present many challenges. The country is heavily dependent on foreign aid and vulnerable to fluctuations in the world prices of cotton and gold which are its main exports. The export of livestock to neighbouring countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo represents a strong growth area, which currently earns a lot of money for the mainly informal livestock trade.
The government is moving forward in its efforts privatise state companies and encourage foreign investment in order to encourage a competitive market economy and job creation.
The country has a democratically elected government, currently from the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP) party, led by the executive president Blaise Compaoré who originally took power after a coup which resulted in the killing of his predecessor the revolutionary captain Thomas Sankara.
While the government is democratically elected, human rights violations remain an issue, especially following the killing of several people including a well known independent journalist in 1998. In addition the recent and ongoing unrest in the Ivory Coast has raised political tensions between the Burkinabé and Ivorian governments.

IS work in Burkina Faso

International service has been active in Burkina Faso since 1978, mainly in the geo-graphical areas that receive only limited attention from other international development agencies. The majority of our local partners are NGOs, who work with local communities in both rural and urban areas, focusing on issues such as public awareness, education/training, natural resource management, small business management and access to other services such as credit and savings.
Currently the programme focuses on the major themes of sustainable livelihoods and organisational development and the main role of the development workers here is to support the local organisations with for instance technical training, institutional and organisational capacity building and advice, to help the partners become more effective and efficient in the development work they do, and to sustain their interaction with their target groups into the future.

IS Field Office in Burkina Faso

Field Director: Karen De Cokere
Postal Address: UNAIS, BP 6143 Ouagadougou
Street Address: Porte 1103, Rue du Dr Goarnisson, Sector 1, Ouagadougou
Tel: + 226 50 34 25 52
Fax: + 226 50 31 42 90
Email: kdecokere@is-africa.org.uk

Programme Officer: Eleonore Couldiaty
Email: ecouldiaty@is-africa.org.uk

Disability Programme: Selena Imerovic
Email: phandicap@is-africa.org.uk

Administration: Georgette Diarra
Email: gdiarra@is-africa.org.uk

Other Burkina Faso links

Information on development associations and organisations, www.burkina.org 
Government website with information on national policies, www.primature.gov.bf  Various information on Burkina, www.burkinet.com
School organisation supporting Burkinabe NGO ASAP, www.burkinafasolink.org.uk
Link to more detailed map: www.izf.net/izf/Documentation/Cartes/
Pays/supercartes/BurkinFaso.htm

Action on Disability in Development (ADD)
Has its headquarters in the UK but operates in Burkina through a regional office. Its aim is to encourage and support disabled peoples’ groups and organisations to help their individual members become more independent and self sufficient, and enable them to participate more in the development of their country.

Association Feminine pour le Development (AFD/Buayaba)
Is a women’s organisation established in 1995. It has 2 offices in Burkina and comprises 35 women’s groups from 8 provinces (a total of more than 5000 individuals).
The aim of the organisation is to promote sustainable development that recognises women in society and the role they play. It helps member groups realise activities relating to training, health, arts and crafts, natural resource management, savings and credit, small business management, gender & development, decentralisation and human rights.

Action Micro Barrages (AMB)
Is an organisation in the central Burkina which as well as focusing its activities on the construction of small dams, also runs credit and savings schemes for the benefit of local people in the area.

Association d’Appui et de Promotion Rural du Gulmu (APRG)
Is an organisation that focuses on supporting and promoting rural development and has as its more specific objectives to provide savings and credit, promote environmental protection (e.g. methods of erosion control), support local income generating activities, and facilitate local group development.

Association pour la Recherche et la Formation en Agro-écologie (ARFA)
Is an organisation in the East of Burkina whose main objective is the promotion of sustainable agriculture and environmental protection. In addition ARFA has helped set  up credit funds to enable local people develop their income generating activities.

Association de Soutien à l’Auto-Promotion (ASAP)
Is a relatively new organisation in the East of Burkina. Its main goal is to assist and support the local population in their efforts to develop self help initiatives through activities such as training in agricultural, environmental and healthcare issues.

Centre National de Semences Forestières (CNSF)
Has its head quarters in the capital and offices in all 4 regions of the country. As the national tree seed centre CNSF carries out research on local and exotic tree species, sells tree seeds and seedlings, and provides training to local people interested in the propagation, management and use of trees.

Action des femmes pour le developpement (Micro-start)
Is a community-based women’s association established in 1998. Because women in Burkina have few opportunities to earn an independent income, acquire collateral, and exercise their democratic rights in society, Micro-start aims to promote women's socio-economic conditions by encouraging efficient local credit schemes for women, providing appropriate technical, material and financial support for community based activities, helping communities take control of their own initiatives and stimulate new initiatives for employment for women, and improving levels of literacy amongst women.

Association Pengdwendé
Is based in the capital and supports the self-development of grass-root community groups in 5 provinces. The main focus of their work is awareness raising, training, organisation, support to income generating and environmental protection activities, as well as the promotion of the rights of young girls and women.

Radio Salankoloto
Is a small radio station which started broadcasting in 1996. The term Salankoloto comes from the Mooré language and loosely means an imaginary friend or partner who entertains, educates and offers advice. It is the only community radio station in the capital and runs programmes which among other things contributes to local awareness raising on important issues such as HIV/AIDS. One of the very important aspects in Radio Salankoloto is that it involves the local community in the evaluation and content planning of the radio programmes by means of 12 listener clubs.

Reseau de Communication, d’Information et de Formation des Femmes dans les Organismes Non Gouvernementals au Burkina Faso (RECIF/ONG-BF)
Is a network organisation in the capital, established in 1991. RECIF is particularly concerned with the wellbeing and status of women and has as its members 46 (national & international) NGOs operating in Burkina. Its activities include research, awareness raising, provision of relevant information, training and general support to its member organisations.

Reseau National de Lutte Anti-Corruption (REN-LAC)
Is a NGO that was established in 1997 as a network of civil society organisations. Through activities such as research, awareness raising and campaigning, the network aims to contribute to the development of an environment of morality and transparency in the management of daily affairs in the capital and other towns and cities.
www.renlac.org

Association Tin Tua (ATT)
Is an NGO created in 1989 from the Literacy Programme in Gulmu. The organisation operates in the 5 provinces in the eastern region of Burkina and focus on the three main areas of Basic Education, Food Security and Capacity Building. Main activities include adult literacy training and children's primary education, agricultural development with e.g. new techniques and cereal stores, and community development with capacity building and income generating activities.