Burkina Faso has had its national rice observatory platform since 25 July 2023. The establishment of the team responsible for implementing rice development activities was preceded by a training and awareness-raising session for the main public and private players in the rice sector in Burkina Faso.
With the support of the Executive Secretary of the ECOWAS Rice Observatory, Dr Boladalé, key stakeholders in rice development in Burkina Faso gained a better understanding of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive, which was adopted in 2014 for a sustainable revival of rice farming in West Africa and to support Member States' national rice development strategies with a view to achieving rice self-sufficiency by 2025. In order to facilitate and accelerate the implementation of the Rice Offensive, ECOWAS has created the Rice Observatory as a partnership and coordination mechanism to catalyse the development of the rice sector in West Africa.
For a region-wide impact, it is essential to have national platforms established in the various Member States in collaboration with national rice grower groups and with the support of partners.
The process of setting up the national platform of the Burkina Faso Rice Observatory took place in various stages, punctuated by initial consultations with the main stakeholders.
This platform has a heavy responsibility to organise stakeholders and facilitate the implementation of the rice offensive in Burkina Faso in order to achieve synergy and better coordination of initiatives related to the rice sector, and public and private investments. The team from the food system resilience programme has also been asked to support the activities of the Burkina Faso Rice Observatory platform, whose team has been officially set up and includes stakeholders and partners from the public and private sectors, research institutions, financial institutions and civil society. In addition to building the capacity of rice sector stakeholders, the national platform team, led by KIE Georges, will also map stakeholders, collect data and communicate regularly on the development of the rice value chain in Burkina Faso.
