The Government of the Principality of Monaco is supporting the project to support inclusive agrifood value chains being implemented by GRET in Burkina Faso.
Through a statement of agreement signed on 12 January last in Ouagadougou by Gilles Tonelli, councillor and Minister of External Relations and Cooperation, the Government of the Principality of Monaco has committed to cooperate with GRET by contributing to the funding of a project led by the NGO since March 2017 to develop three strategic agricultural value chains (cowpea, milk and non-timber forest products) in Burkina Faso. Monaco’s participation, an overall sum of 400,000 euros, will contribute substantially to the overall funding of the project – 5.8 million euros for a period of 5 years, co-funded by the European Union, among others.
The cowpea, milk and non-timber forest products (“goods of biological origin other than wood, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests” according to the FAO, for example shea kernels or néré) are currently experiencing strong growth in Burkina Faso. These include a large number of small farms and micro and small processing businesses, and generate resources and jobs for numerous families. They also provide significant nutritional advantages.
The project being implemented by GRET aims to strengthen the technical, commercial and organisational capacities of: 14,000 cowpea producers, 150 operators processing derived products (bakeries, women’s processing groups); 750 livestock farmers producing milk and 30 mini-dairies; and operators in the non-timber forest products sector (producers’ groups and processing businesses, i.e. 400 women). It will also work on strengthening the functioning and governance of interprofessional executive staff at local and national level, and on strengthening their capacities to advocate in favour of their value chain and in favour of the consumption of local products. The project will have a positive environmental impact thanks to the promotion of agroecological techniques and the drawing up of local charters for management of natural resources.
Seven Burkinabe professional or interprofessional organisations and associations are associated with the project: Association for the promotion of livestock farming in the Sahel and the Savannah (Apess), Association for the promotion of small and medium businesses/Agriculture and artisans (APME2A), Fert, the National federation of agrifood and processing industries in Burkina Faso (Fiab), the Shea value chain group (TFK), the Milk value chain group (TFL) and the Network of farmers’ and agricultural producers’ organisations of West Africa (Roppa).
