News

The government of Burkina Faso is changing its paradigm when it comes to agriculture, adopting an agricultural policy that creates the right conditions to encourage the country's youth to move into this sector. 

"Burkina Faso is an agricultural country that employs 80% of the population," said His Excellency Jacob Ouégraogo, Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Senegal. Ambassador Ouégraogo visited CORAF on Thursday, March 18, 2021.

Burkina Faso's economy is largely dependent on agriculture. According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), agriculture, forestry and fishing accounted for 34.5% of Burkina Faso's Gross Domestic Product in 2012 and 30.5% in 2017.

The Burkinabe government has therefore decided to deploy efforts to create the best conditions for increasing agricultural productivity and supporting the efforts of the local population. 

"We have set up an agricultural bank dedicated to supporting the efforts of domestic investors, with the aim of bringing out agricultural entrepreneurs who will have access to this financing tool to accelerate their mechanization and develop their business," explained His Excellency Jacob Ouédraogo, pointing out that the government opted for mechanization because it was one of the major challenges facing agriculture.

"The government has set up an agricultural fund of 2 billion FCFA within the agricultural bank, to be able to grant credit to support the efforts of young people involved in agriculture," he explained.

At a time when climate change poses a major challenge for the country, the Burkinabe government is banking on agriculture and its young people, as the country has rivers and vast plains suitable for agricultural production.

"President Roch Kaboré is convinced that we have the potential to develop agriculture and achieve food self-sufficiency," said the Ambassador.

Motivating young people

In addition to the challenge of mechanization, the issue of motivating young people to take an interest and get involved in agriculture is another challenge taken up by the Burkinabe government. 

"With these success stories, young people are beginning to feel more comfortable about returning to the land," says His Excellency Jacob Ouédraogo.

In his view, not only do we need to encourage young people and make them understand that agriculture offers enormous opportunities, we also need to provide them with the means to invest in and succeed in agriculture.

"We need legislation and accompanying measures such as exemption to facilitate the acquisition of agricultural equipment, facilitating access to credit and access to land, which is also a very important dimension, especially for women."