The project affects two states Mali and Burkina Faso. Mani Tese is responsible for project activities in Burkina Faso, a landlocked republic of West Africa. It is among the ten poorest countries in the world: its Human Development Index ranks 183 out of 188 countries (UNDP 2017 data). The population lives mainly in rural areas, dealing with agriculture and livestock.

Since 2015, the northern regions of Burkina Faso bordering Mali and Niger have been affected by growing insecurity due to the activism of Salafist-jihadist-inspired non-state armed groups. Attacks by these groups have intensified especially since 2019, the year in which more than 800 security incidents were recorded, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians.

The progressive deterioration of security conditions, in addition to having led to the closure of 2,512 schools, depriving 350,000 students of access to education, and of 135 health centers, excluding 1.5 million people from access to education and health services Basically, it has forced an increasing number of people to flee, either driven by the violence that directly affected them or by fear of suffering it.

The number of internally displaced persons increased from 486,000 in October 2019 to 921,000 in June 2020. 75% of them live in extremely precarious housing conditions. In fact, the availability of water and the sanitation facilities of the host communities are often insufficient to respond to such a sudden increase in the population and, together with the conditions of overcrowding, expose the populations, both host and hosted, to the risk of epidemics. The increase in population also puts a strain on the already limited basic services and scarce natural resources, increasing humanitarian needs and exacerbating inter-community tensions for access to land and grazing and, therefore, to the self-production of food.

And then there is COVID that worsens the situation, limiting freedom of movement and forcing the closure of businesses and markets, and thus leading to an increase in unemployment and a decrease in the availability of food.

The action will take place in the Northern region, and more specifically in the province of Yatenga, department of Ouahigouya. As of 10 November 2020, 76,218 people were displaced throughout the Northern region, of which 44,139 in the province of Yatenga alone (58%). Of these, 21,128 are located in the municipality of Ouahigouya (48%), and all live in situations of extreme vulnerability: in many cases they have makeshift shelters, inadequate hygiene conditions and, having lost everything in the flight, have difficulty in feeding and engage in agricultural production.

These population displacements generate pressure and worsen the situation in the province, which is already precarious in terms of available resources and services. In the province of Yatenga alone there are about 253,300 people in need, of which 216,648 (86%) in a situation of serious food insecurity.

The project aims to improve the living conditions of local communities, including internally displaced persons, reducing food insecurity, increasing agricultural production qualitatively and quantitatively. Support is provided for horticultural and cereal production with agroecological techniques and the generation of income with processing and marketing of products. Particular attention will be paid to vulnerable families through the distribution of food and sanitation kits for the prevention of the pandemic.

1. Creation of an experimental agroecological perimeter. The activity has the dual objective of facilitating agricultural production and promoting the dissemination of agroecological techniques for the production of healthy and sustainable food from a social and environmental point of view. The cultivation of one hectare of land is planned with millet in the wet season and vegetables in the dry season. An irrigation system will be built with a well equipped with a solar-powered pump. In the field, “on the job” training sessions will be held on agroecological techniques for production that does not involve the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
2. Support for millet production. The activity concerns the individual agricultural perimeters. 400 beneficiaries will participate in technical training and practical demonstrations and will receive a supply of agricultural materials and inputs to be used on the fields and natural products for phytosanitary control.
3. Support for family horticulture. 360 extremely vulnerable families will receive support for family horticultural production with a supply of materials and inputs and will participate in technical training in the demonstration gardens.
4. Construction of two processing centers. One will be for horticultural products and the other for millet processing. They will be equipped with the machinery and materials necessary for the transformation of the selected supply chains, and mainly: mills for the production of millet flour, equipment for the production of fried potatoes, facilities for drying moringa, okra, chilli, etc. They can also be used as product storage warehouses. Training sessions on basic accounting, product marketing and savings and community credit are planned for the people who will manage the centers.
5. Emergency assistance. Distribution of food to 60 vulnerable families once a month for three months. The distribution is foreseen in the period awaiting the harvest for vulnerable resident families or those who have just arrived in the intervention area, forced to flee from situations of violence and who have no other means of subsistence. In addition to food, there is an economic contribution for other expenses, such as the completion of food rations, medicines and other daily costs.
6. Prevention from COVID 19. Distribution of hygiene kits to 60 extremely vulnerable families. Meetings and radio programs to raise awareness and information on the problems of COVID and the correct prevention measures from epidemiological contagion.