Burkina Faso

Currently, we are running our Sustainable rice programme, and our Good Food for Cities programme in the cities of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou.

Sustainable Rice programme highlights for 2024

Our partner, the rice interprofessional organisation CIRB, organised a national workshop to establish a floor price for paddy rice, which increased by 26%. For the first time, a floor price was also set for white and parboiled rice—30% higher than the common selling price. This achievement crowns sustained lobbying efforts and demonstrated the government’s commitment to supporting national production, complemented by increased investments in agriculture and the introduction of import quotas. To inform policy and planning, we also published a study on rice availability, domestic production, and marketing in partnership with ANACOR (Burkina Faso’s National Association of Rice Traders). Another encouraging result in 2024 was the rise in the number of food system entrepreneurs—from 11 to 142—as more women joined the women parboilers' franchising initiative while others became involved in the marketing of processed rice. This growing interest in the rice sector is a promising sign for its future development.

Good Food for Cities programme highlights for 2024

In Ouagadougou, 4 schools have joined Rikolto's GoodFood@School journey! These four schools and one other were involved in various activities related to hygiene and cooking practices, with the support of the EU-funded AfriFOODlinks project. A city-wide food system assessment along with stakeholder dialogues, helped collectively develop a vision and financing models to support more inclusive food enterprises. 17 hectares in the Green Belt were restored using agroecological practices, and 785 farmers were trained in climate resilient practices. As a result of B2B events and trainings from finance to negotiation and marketing techniques, 307 producers - 84% of them women - improved their market skills. In Bobo-Dioulasso, three schools revised their food charters and action plans, while the municipality, supported by Rikolto, began to review its urban and peri-urban agriculture strategy.