The governor of the Hauts-Bassins region, Mariama Konaté, carried out a field visit on Wednesday 14 and Friday 16 August 2024 to the irrigated sites and fields of Houndé, in the province of Tuy and in Séguéré, in the rural commune of Bama (province of Houet). This outing is part of the 2023-2025 Agropastoral and Fisheries Offensive launched by the government in August 2023 to aspire to achieve food self-sufficiency in Burkina Faso.
The governor of the Hauts-Bassins region, Mariama Konaté, accompanied by a delegation from the Agricultural Resilience and Competitiveness Project (PReCA) and the regional directorate of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Resources visited, on Wednesday, August 14, 2024, the rice-growing sites of Karaba 1 and 2 in the commune of Houndé, Tuy province. These are 100 hectares (ha) of lowlands developed as part of the Agropastoral and Fisheries Offensive (OAPH) with funding from PReCA. The Karaba 1 site, with an area of 70 ha, was the first stop on the visit. On this site, 271 plots are operated by 268 producers, including 95 women. The delegation then visited the Karaba 2 site. With an area of 30 ha, Karaba 2 has 126 plots for 94 farmers, including 30 women. According to agricultural technicians, a production of 360 tonnes of rice is expected on these two sites, or 252 tonnes at Karaba 1 and 108 tonnes at Karaba 2. From the rice fields and fields of Tuy (Hondé), Mariama Konaté headed to Séguéré, about fifty kilometres from Bobo-Dioulasso, in the rural commune of Bama, Houet province. Accompanied by the regional director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Resources, the governor visited the rice plain of this locality developed by the Integrated Development Programme of the Samadéni Valley (PDIS) within the framework of the PReCA.
The Séguéré site, according to the head of the PReCA Hauts-Bassins branch, Salamata Karambiri, is part of the 1,500 hectares (ha) of the PDIS developed as part of the development of the Samendeni valley. “Of course, the development work at Séguéré is not complete, but we were able to allocate the plots and carry out the development. The seedlings were sown on time, which gives us the vegetative state we have today,” said Salamata Karambiri. At the tillering/hilling stage, the rice, spread as far as the eye can see, on this perimeter of 180 ha, of which 114 are developed, gives satisfaction to today’s visitors. “We are satisfied with what we have just seen on this site (editor’s note: Séguéré). This is an opportunity for me to thank PReCA and especially the producers who have set to work to respond to the call of the President of Faso. That of producing on site the maximum amount of rice that we consume,” rejoiced the governor of Hauts-Bassins. As part of the Agropastoral and Fisheries Offensive, a number of developments including that of Séguéré have been carried out in the Hauts-Bassins region, according to the regional director in charge of Agriculture, Eric Pascal Adanabou. And as of August 16, 2024, he is a regional director satisfied with the level of work completed. Despite the vagaries of rainfall, Mr. Adanabou remains optimistic about the outcome of this 2024-2025 agricultural campaign.
“Don’t worry, we will have something to eat given what is being done on the ground with the sites developed as part of the Agropastoral and Fisheries Offensive. It is true that we had a somewhat difficult start like other regions, with rainfall below expectations, but from the first rains in May-June, we started the process. Despite the pockets of drought noted here and there, the campaign is going well overall,” reassured the DR.
Kamele FAYAMA
Babou Eric BAZIE
(AIB/Tuy)