Decent work in agribusiness for Burkina Faso's youth

Vocational training and job placement in the agri-food sector are at the heart of Mani Tese's new “Lagro” project in Burkina Faso, co-financed by the Ministry of the Interior – Department of Civil Liberties.

Last June 3rd, Mani Tese officially launched the new project with a launch workshop held in the capital Ouagadougou, which brought together a wide range of stakeholders and beneficiaries. “LAGRO: Socio-economic development and opportunities for vocational training and decent work in the agri-food sector in Burkina Faso”. 

Co-financed by Italian Ministry of the Interior – Department of Civil Liberties, the LAGRO project will last three years in the Central region, especially in Ouagadougou and municipalities of Greater Ouagadougou. Its main objective is to address the socio-economic and food security challenges facing Burkina Faso, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups: returning migrants, internally displaced persons, young people and women.

Professional training and job placement in the agri-food sector are at the heart of the new project, which aims to act as a flywheel for inclusive and sustainable local development, in full coherence with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG 4 (quality education), SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) and SDG 10 (reduction of inequalities). By combating youth unemployment and structuring the agri-food sector, LAGRO promises to transform people's lives.

Eugenio Attard, Mani Tese Country Representative in Burkina Faso, outlined the expected results of the project. “The LAGRO project aims at three key outcomes: raising awareness on the issue of immigration, providing quality professional training in agroecology, catering and agro-food processing, and providing solid support for the professional integration of our beneficiaries.” He outlined some of the objectives: “We plan to train 75 beneficiaries in catering, 120 in agro-food processing, and support 250 producers in agroecology,” he said.

Eugenio Attard, Country Representative of Mani Tese in Burkina Faso, during the launch workshop of the "LAGRO" project on June 3rd

Local authorities welcomed the initiative. El Hadj Sidi Mahamadou Cissé, technical advisor responsible for environmental issues representing the municipality of Ouagadougou, stressed thesocial and environmental impact of the project. “This initiative is essential to keep young people in their homeland and to combat rural exodus and immigration, the main cause of which is the lack of work,” he said.

He also highlighted the added value of agro-food processing. “Processing will help reduce product losses and improve living conditions, while using waste for composting, thus protecting our environment.”

As with all Mani Tese interventions in the country, the use of a gender transformative approach, to modify power and gender relations with the aim of producing a positive change in the social and cultural paradigms that generate discrimination and inequalities.