From Halifax Stanfield International airport at 4pm on June 27th
to Montreal Pierre-Elliott Trudeau, then to Ouagadougou International airport
via Paris-Charles-De-Gaulle airport, I am finally in Burkina Faso on June 28th
at 8:20pm local time, for an exciting Leave for Change mandate for which
understanding and appropriation of my mission started in early May 2015. Ouagadougou has a hot
semi-arid steppe climate and this time of the year is the beginning of the rainy
cold season. From my smartphone, the weather app was indicating 27oC,
wind speed 0 km/h. After about an hour of arrival routine at the airport, I
stepped out and Issa Sawadogo (Uniterra driver) was there exhibiting a paper on
which my name was written. I went to him and received a warm welcome, in the
“African style”. First direction, “Maison des hotes chez Giuliana”, a hostel
owned by an Italian woman established in Burkina Faso. I am informed that
another Canadian, Chelsea from Ottawa is around, and three others are expected
two days later.
With no recovery from the 3 hour jet lag and long trip, I was up and ready
for the first activity on June 29th. At 8:30 a.m, Issa showed up and
drove Chelsea and I to Uniterra central office. A 30 minute drive that took us
to Somgande (Ouagadougou North), where we were welcomed by Noel Zankone (Human
Resource Manager), who gave us a tour of the building, during which I was
introduced, among others to Fatimata Lankoande (Uniterra country coordinator
and Director of WUSC-Burkina), Adama Ouedraogo (CECI programme Director),
Clementine Vimbamba (Uniterra program officer), and other long term volunteers.
The introduction meeting began at 9:45. Around the table with me were
Clementine, Rasmane Compaore (Capitalization and Systematization Officer), and
Noel. All participants introduced themselves again and Clementine gave a
presentation on the review of the Uniterra program, followed by a discussion on
my mandate until lunch time. The afternoon was dedicated to shopping, bank and
other first needs.
Tuesday 30th at 9:00, departure to Bobo Dioulasso, second town
in the country and the one with the highest concentration of economic
activities, 5 hour drive west of Ouagadougou on an entirely asphalt road (only
since very recently). My mandate is to support the National Union of Rice
Parboilers of Burkina Faso, headquartered in Bobo Dioulasso, through a quality
assurance pilot project with the Bama Centre for Rice Parboiling, located 25 km
west of Bobo Dioulasso. Parboiling is a process that involves soaking and then precooking the
paddy rice.
Figure: My introductory visit at the National Union of Rice Parboilers of Burkina
Faso (UNERIZ). From left to right: the admin assistant, Clementine Vimbamba (Uniterra
program officer), Etienne Mfoumou (NSCC volunteer), Alimatou Ouedraogo (UNERIZ Executive
Administrator), and Bourima (student intern).
In Burkina Faso, privatization of the rice industry two decades ago
spelled hard times for rice producers. As growers increasingly abandoned
production and productivity declined, CECI responded by supporting the revival
of an ancestral practice that has proven itself time and time again: rice
parboiling by women. This processing technique traditionally passed down from
mother to daughter improves the texture and nutritional quality of the paddy
rice, thereby increasing its value in the local market and earning more income
for the household.
By joining together and forming associations, Burkinan entrepreneurs
have been able to take advantage of numerous training opportunities, and those
in Bama and Banzon now each have the benefit of a parboiling facility built by
GCIUS (Groupe de Collaboration International en Ingénierie de l’Université de
Sherbrooke), a group of young engineers from the Université de Sherbrooke
volunteering with Uniterra. The facilities in Bama and Banzon provide the
women with a working environment that is conducive to meeting standards of both
hygiene and product quality.
By adding value to an agricultural product and helping to market it,
CECI has enabled women to earn an income and to gain self-confidence. In
Burkina Faso as elsewhere, development is closely tied to the economic
empowerment of women. However, more can be done and the quality of rice in the
market is still not meeting the expected standard and therefore, is negatively
impacted by competition from imported rice. Through a partnership between the
Nova Scotia Community College and Uniterra, my mandate will consist in
reviewing and optimizing the quality control process from post-harvesting to
packaging, to achieve food security and improve nutrition.
Stay tuned
for the next episode!!!
