Journalists from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and Niger joined Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture based in Rome, David Lane on a five day reporting tour to explore the challenges and successes in agricultural development in Burkina Faso. The group has seen a variety of projects sponsored by the U.S. Government and the United Nations.
A World Food Programme project in Arbolle identifies malnourished children, then provided supplementary highly nutritious fortified foods plus education in their use. Regular clinic visits ensure that the children are benefitting and growing well.
USAID projects promote village level irrigation systems and nutrition education for women, while villagers in Goubi have increased income opportunities as a result of a joint project of all three UN agencies. With their assistance, villagers dug catchment basins to better manage water usage for rice growing, and revived and refined a traditional planting practice to improve sorghum yields.
In one exciting development seen at a USAID project in Wattigue Village, women have devised a nutrient enriched porridge made entirely from local projects, thus ensuring that their children are healthy and well-nourished without outside aid.
