The Burkina Faso component of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA) has organised seed and fertiliser distribution sessions for a number of farmers in the north of the country.

Chaired by the Minister for Agriculture and the Governor of the North, these seed and fertiliser distribution sessions are aimed at strengthening the resilience of producers during the dry season, which is marked by a lack of water. The northern region of Burkina Faso, which mainly produces market garden produce, is facing food insecurity due in part to drought and civil unrest. As a result, 19,022 tonnes of seeds and 1,250 tonnes of fertiliser have been provided to producers to boost market garden production, one of the key value chains of the Burkina Faso FSRP.

In line with the government's commitment to ensuring food sovereignty for the people of Burkina Faso by 2025, the FSRP is being implemented in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-East, Centre-West, Centre-South, East, Hauts-Bassins and North regions, with financial support from the World Bank and the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme (GAFSP).

Environmental and social issues involving gender-based violence/sexual exploitation and abuse/sexual harassment (GBV/SEA/HS) play a key role in the implementation of the activities of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (PRSA-BF). To this end, and to ensure that its activities such as hydro-agricultural development, the financing of micro-projects and the construction of infrastructure, among others, are carried out properly, the PRSA-BF has commissioned a study to assess the impact of the programme on the food system in West Africa, In June 2021, the PRSA-BF commissioned the development of environmental and social safeguard instruments, in particular 𝐥𝐞𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐆𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐞 (𝐂𝐆𝐄𝐒 ), 𝐥𝐞𝐂𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐑 é𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ( )     𝐂𝐏𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐆𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐏𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐏𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬    (𝐏𝐆𝐏𝐏 ).             

To assess these instruments, the Technical Committee on Environmental Assessments (𝐂𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐕𝐄 ), under the auspices of the Agence Nationale Des Evaluations Environ-nementales (𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄 ), organised a working session in Ziniaré (Plateau-Central region) in August 2023. Chaired by Dramane SAVADOGO, Director of Strategic Environmental Assessments and Environmental Impact Assessments/ANEVE, the session was conducted in plenary session by a multidisciplinary group and was marked by presentations on the three (3) documents to be examined.

Koumbéyao Jean-Homère SOMDA, PRSA-BF Environmental Protection Specialist, presented the𝐂𝐆𝐄𝐒 and websites. 𝐏𝐆𝐏𝐏𝐂𝐏𝐑 was presented by Panbagnounou LANOU, Social Development Specialist. These presentations, which were followed by discussions, led to recommendations and validation of the various documents, subject to COTEVE's observations being taken into account.

The validation of the environmental and social safeguard instruments means that the West African Food System Resilience Programme in Burkina Faso now complies with the ECOWAS legislative and regulatory framework and the World Bank's Environmental and Social Standards.

Increasing the supply of quality seeds and boosting entrepreneurship among women and young people in the seed sector is the overall objective of the training sessions for players in seed companies selected in seven regions of Burkina Faso (Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-West, Hauts-Bassins, North, Centre-South, Centre-East and East).

Organised by the National Coordination of the West African Food System Resilience Programme in Burkina Faso, these training sessions were led by experts from the Directorate General of Plant Protection (DGPV) and the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA) of Burkina Faso, and facilitated by the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF).

In Koudougou, in the Centre-West region, from 08 to 11 August, PRSA Burkina Faso helped to build the capacity of more than 70 women and young people in the multiplication, conservation and marketing of quality seeds, and in the management of seed companies

The shared modules provided participants with essential knowledge for the production, processing and marketing of quality and bio-fortified seeds (with a focus on vegetable seeds). In addition, learners acquired skills in setting up and managing seed companies, all of which will enable them to be leaders in the quality seed value chain.

After the Centre-West region, PRSA Burkina Faso plans to build the capacity of other players in the Centre-South region. Through these training courses, PRSA aims to promote the inclusive scaling-up of quality seeds in Burkina Faso and throughout West Africa.

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.

From 25 to 28 May 2023, the Institut de l'environnement et de recherches agricoles (INERA) organised the fourteenth edition of the Foire aux semences améliorées de plantes in Ouagadougou, under the theme "Contribution des résultats de la recherche agricole à la résilience des populations et à l'employabilité des jeunes et des femmes: cas des semences améliorées dans le contexte de crises sécuritaires et alimentaires".

The poor use of seed research results is not conducive to better agricultural yields. To remedy this situation, INERA organises an annual fair to promote improved seeds and innovative agricultural production technologies and systems.  According to Dr Hamidou Traoré, Director of INERA, "supplying producers with improved seeds, in quantity and quality, can be a solution to the fight against food insecurity and contribute to wealth creation, while empowering more young people and women in agriculture". It is this objective and the worrying security and food situation in the Sahel, and in Burkina Faso in particular, that have motivated the choice of theme for the 2023 fair," he added.

He added that "for the 2023-2024 wet season, 2,166 tonnes mineral fertiliser, 1,582 tonnes of seed of improved varieties, 358 tonnes of fodder seed, 305 units of motorised equipment and 2,500 tonnes animal feed will be made available to producers at subsidised prices".

The 2023 edition of the Fair for Improved Plant Seeds was marked by information, communication and awareness-raising ; technical capacity-building activities for users of research products; and the sale of basic seeds and seedlings produced by the Institute for the Environment and Agricultural Research. A number of seed growers and agricultural producers from the 13 regions of Burkina Faso took part in the event.

This activity took place as part of the implementation of the West African food system resilience programme in Burkina Faso, for which INERA is the national specialisation centre   on fruit and vegetables (CNS-FL). The CNS-FL is working, among other things, to promote research and the dissemination of quality seeds, through the seed fair, which brings research results closer to the people and helps to disseminate them. 

In Burkina Faso, thanks to the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) financed by the World Bank with a contribution from the Burkina Faso government, around 120 million US dollars (72 billion CFA francs) have been mobilised to support 100,000 vulnerable households, i.e. 650,000 people, including 325,000 women and young people, and to help develop 26,000 hectares. 

These beneficiaries from 7 regions of Burkina Faso (Haut-Bassins, Boucle du Mouhoun, North, Centre-West, East, Centre-East and Centre-South) will receive specific support to produce and market their products in a more stable environment due to the cross-border location of the target areas.

To achieve this, "the FSRP will provide climatic and hydro-meteorological information to help farmers in the target areas plan their production according to climatic events and weather conditions. This digital advice will help them to make informed decisions regarding the choice of seeds, sowing periods, production zones, as well as the possible occurrence of natural disasters such as floods," emphasised Mr Edouard SANOU, Coordinator of the FSRP-Burkina Faso, during awareness-raising sessions for FSRP beneficiaries.

To facilitate trade and commerce in agricultural products, the FSRP will implement market-related mechanisms by helping to remove trade barriers and road harassment to facilitate intra-regional trade and increase profits.

Research for development is at the heart of the FSRP, which will help to build research capacity for fruit and vegetables. The Institut de l'Environnement et des Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Burkina Faso's national research centre, will be strengthened to play the role of regional centre of excellence for fruit and vegetables in West Africa. In addition, infrastructure will be made available to farmers to support hydro-agricultural projects and the restoration of degraded land.

Various forms of support will be provided for agricultural projects and micro-projects in terms of equipment, with beneficiaries contributing up to 50%. The programme also provides for the introduction of technologies accessible to women and young people, and initiatives to develop nearly 26,000 hectares, including the rehabilitation of the Bama agricultural lowland.

From 3 to 7 April 2023, stakeholders and partners from the 7 target regions of Burkina Faso were briefed on the objectives, expected results, implementation strategies and institutional and organisational arrangements of the PRSF in Burkina Faso, in order to familiarise themselves with national and World Bank procedures and gain a better understanding of the targeting strategy and the modus operandi for knowledge management, gender mainstreaming and environmental and social safeguards.

The West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) is a major initiative aimed at strengthening the region's capacity to cope with food and climate crises. Conceived by ECOWAS and its technical arms CORAF and CILSS, and funded by the World Bank, the FSRP is a joint effort to help stakeholders meet the challenges they face.

The PRSF has a multi-phase approach. The first phase of the programme, worth US$395.74 million, including US$330 million from the World Bank, benefits four countries: Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo, and three regional institutions (ECOWAS, CILSS and CORAF). The second phase, worth US$315 million, targets three countries: Ghana, Sierra Leone and Chad.

From July to early October, a technical monitoring-evaluation team made up of regional coordinators from CILSS, CORAF, ECOWAS and the World Bank carried out monitoring-evaluation support missions in six countries of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP). The mission, which covered Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana and Sierra Leone, aimed to improve the FSRP's performance management by harmonising the measurement methods and data sources for the indicators in the programme's results framework.

The main objective was to arrive at a reliable monitoring and evaluation system that would enable the PRSP's performance to be managed in the best possible way. These meetings were of particular benefit to the countries in the first phase of the programme's implementation, now at the half-way stage. They provided an opportunity for national stakeholders to harmonise their understanding of the results framework indicators and to revise the data collection forms used by all the countries.

The discussions took place in a hybrid format, combining face-to-face and online working sessions. They brought together experts from ECOWAS, CORAF, CILSS, the World Bank and the monitoring and evaluation teams of the countries concerned, in addition to the technical partner services involved in implementing the FSRP.

One of the crucial stages of this mission was to carry out a complete review of the indicators in the regional results framework. This included an examination of the results calculated, the calculation formulas applied, the data collected and the collection tools used in each country. This technical work enabled the harmonisation that was essential to guarantee the reliability and comparability of data between the different countries where the programme operates.

The indicators deemed to have priority were examined in detail. These include: (i) ODP2 (Number of programme beneficiaries); (ii) ODP3 (Number of food system actors with access to hydrological and agrometeorological advisory services); (iii) ODP4 (Area of land under sustainable landscape management practices); (iv) ODP5 (Number of producers adopting agricultural technologies and services adapted to climate change); and (v) IRI1 (Percentage of satisfied users with access to climate and agricultural advisory services).

These indicators are at the heart of the evaluation of the progress made by the programme and provide an overview of the initial impact of the interventions on beneficiaries.

At the end of this support mission, the Regional Coordination of the PRSF will have an overview of national data, enabling a more detailed assessment of the overall performance of the programme. This rigorous monitoring is essential to assess the effectiveness of the PRSF's interventions and to ensure greater resilience of food systems in West Africa.

As part of the World Bank's support to strengthen the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve (RRSA) through the GRiF activities of Component 3 of the PRSF, a visit by WILLIS TOWERS WATSON to experts from the RAEA/ECOWAS, particularly those in charge of designing and implementing the risk transfer mechanism (the PIU team), took place from 03 to 05 June 2024 in Lomé/Togo.

Discussions generally focused on the feasibility study for the risk transfer/financing instrument and on the instrument's potential, data and modelling.

After three (03) days of discussions, the WTW consultants and the RAAA experts agreed on the food security factors that should be considered as a priority, on a clearer vision of the type of potential instruments, on the definition and discussion of the type of data needed to assess food security and finally on the type of data/indicators/proxy that will be used to design the trigger index for interventions from the regional reserve.

Together, the ARAA and WTW experts defined the most important steps to be taken to finalise the instrument. It should be noted that these exchanges provided an opportunity for a better understanding of the requirements of the Reserve and ECOWAS with regard to the support mechanism and a clearer understanding of the requirements and preferences of the market (insurers and investors) with regard to these risks and these instruments.

Prior to the Lomé meeting, the RAAA and WTW experts had jointly conducted a holistic risk assessment focusing on the identification and evaluation of the main structural and current drivers of food insecurity in the region, as well as indicators that could be useful, alone or in combination, as proxies for various elements of food insecurity in the ECOWAS region, both at national and regional levels.

WTW has consulted with the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) team to review and reach a common understanding of the various aspects of the RFSR, including financial costs, disbursement history (countries, dates of distribution, food commodities and volume distributed, number of beneficiaries), purchase agreements already in place, and any data gaps and liquidity constraints. WTW will use the information collected to estimate the number of beneficiaries currently reached, the number yet to be reached and the number that could be reached through the implementation of the financial mechanism(s) proposed to extend the scope of the RFSR.

The feasibility study on the risk financing instrument for the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve (RFSR) is a GRiF-funded activity exploring the feasibility of designing and implementing a risk transfer solution for the RFSR to improve the resilience of the regional reserve against the main food insecurity risks. The RFSR responds to food insecurity induced by various sources of food crises, including agro-climatic shocks, socio-political conflicts or crises, health crises (Ebola, Covid-19) and sudden food price shocks. The RFSR is designed to complement national food security response mechanisms.

Such an instrument would be a unique structure, providing a demonstration effect for new financing mechanisms for development. With the right framework, it can catalyse increased funding for the food reserve system, including food stock infrastructure and management, by attracting private capital to complement contributions from donors and ECOWAS member states. A wide range of financial instruments are being considered, from insurance solutions and bonds to commodity options.

Following the meeting in Lomé, future actions include the organisation of a round table between WTW, the GRiF team and insurers to gauge their appetite for the potential instrument, as well as the selection of data and development of the index. 

The regional coordination of the West African Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) organised a training workshop on gender for inter-professions of regional agri-food value chains from 07 to 09 May 2024 in Accra, Ghana. The overall objective of this workshop is to equip cross-border agri-food inter-professional organisations to take gender and youth dimensions into account in the sustainable development policies, projects and programmes of regional inter-professional organisations, with a view to fostering the emergence of more inclusive regional trade.

Focusing on the specific needs of women and young people, participants highlighted the obstacles encountered in agricultural practice and the main trade facilitation problems encountered at borders, particularly in agri-food trade. They also shared strategic ideas on intra-regional trade, free trade policies and agreements, including operational protocols/instruments; ECOWAS-AfCFTA relations of the AU; women's trade in AfCFTA in relation to market access opportunities and challenges and solutions for a gender-sensitive AfCFTA/protocol on women and youth in AfCFTA).

Participants included the main partners of the inter-professional organisations identified by ECOWAS at regional level, in particular CORAF, gender experts from the FAO, the International Trade Centre (ITC), the ECOWAS Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development (DADR) and representatives of the regional coordination of the PRSF.

Dr Mariame Maiga, CORAF's regional gender adviser, principal trainer and moderator, developed the two concepts of gender and sex, and highlighted the difference between gender and sex. She summarised the concept of SEX as being a biological factor and GENDER as being a sociological factor. The moderator encouraged question-and-answer exchanges to produce a clear explanation of gender concepts with relevant examples from the participants.

Francesca Distefano, gender and policy expert at the FAO's Africa office (online participant), gave members an overview of the scope of the regional roadmap that was consensually drawn up during the meeting. As a reminder, women play a key role in regional trade and in the development of commercial potential, as producers, processors, traders in various products, cross-border traders, managers and business owners. However, their contribution to agricultural trade and the challenges they face are not always recognised and taken into account in policies, projects and programmes. Most of their specific difficulties are: access to finance, loan opportunities, know-how in drawing up business plans, non-tariff barriers, including road harassment, multiple checkpoints, long delays on the roads and illicit collections, as well as technical barriers, including food safety standards, quality and hygiene, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, sexual harassment, rape and blackmail.

In the light of these factors, the PRSF has drawn up a regional gender action plan with concrete actions to be implemented under component 3 (market and trade) to facilitate access for disadvantaged women and young people to goods, facilities and commercial services.

In order to monitor and evaluate the extent to which gender has been taken into account in the implementation of activities, it has been proposed that the inter-professions of the regional agri-food value chains should finalise their action plans and submit them to the regional authorities. 

The West Africa Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP) held its first meeting to review the support missions for 2024. The event took place from 15 to 17 May 2024 in Lomé, Togo. Over seventy (70) participants from Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo, as well as from regional institutions (CILSS, CORAF and ECOWAS) and the World Bank, took stock of the implementation of the PRSF according to its implementation principles.

During the three (03) days of discussions, the participants shared information on the various activities carried out over the last six (6) months at national and regional level, while reviewing the challenges linked to the implementation of the FSRP before proposing possible solutions to meet these challenges.

Work focused on (i) parallel sessions between countries and regional organisations on specific topics relating to digital services, integrated landscape management, strengthening regional trade and agricultural markets, the rice value chain and gender; (ii) plenary sessions to review common challenges and propose solutions that could contribute to the successful implementation of the PRSP.

One of the innovations at this regional meeting was the exhibition of products and innovations by the actors and beneficiaries of the FSRP/Togo. Some twenty producers from Togo's main agricultural production zones shared the products generated with the support of the FSRP.

This first summary meeting of the PRSP's support missions for 2024 was a platform for promoting the sharing of knowledge, strengthening coordination between players and defining strategic guidelines for the future of the programme. The first countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Togo) are halfway through the implementation of their activities.

In the field, the PRSF's activities focus primarily on preventing and managing agricultural and food crises, strengthening the resilience of agro-sylvo-pastoral production systems, and facilitating trade in agricultural goods and inputs within and across national borders in West Africa. After two (02) years of implementation, significant results have been noted and the actions carried out in the countries and at regional level have reached a total of 1,281,766 direct beneficiaries in 2023, 37% of whom are women.

Overall, we note that the FSRP is a unique tool that strengthens regional integration through the exchange of technologies and innovations and the mobility of researchers and stakeholders between countries, which will contribute considerably to the implementation of ECOWAP and thus accelerate the transformation of the agricultural sector in the sub-region.