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Home » Diets that Work » In Burkina Faso, a garden maintained by local women benefits a whole community

By Guy Hubbard

OUAHIGOUYA, Burkina Faso, 15 October 2012 - In northwest Burkina Faso, deep in the Sahel belt, a small oasis is beginning to take shape.

Bordering the vast Sahara Desert, the Sahel stretches across the African continent. Eking out any kind of life here is tough, but a group of women are turning their corner of this harsh, arid region into a lush and productive garden. In a place where people survive mainly on nutritionally poor grain millet, the vegetables these women produce are changing their families diets and lives.

Healthy diet

In this area, malnutrition is rampant. Burkina Faso was one of nine countries affected by recent droughts. But even in times of plenty, nutrition is a problem not necessarily because of a lack of food, but rather because of a lack of the right kinds of food. Vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables are expensive, and mothers are often unaware of the importance of these foods to their families diets.

Kientego Sierotta heads a group of 54 women who are transforming the landscape. Shes a mother and works with her 8-month-old baby on her back. After an hour of digging and planting, she takes a break to feed him.

The nutritional situation of children before the setting up of the project was severe, she says. The children were falling sick regularly. But, since we started to work here and the garden started producing vegetables, the children have been less sick, and we have changed our diets.

We couldn't afford vegetables before, Ms. Sierotta continues. Now we can eat them and sell the surplus, and generally the situation has improved significantly.

Community benefits

The women receive training on farming techniques and funding towards the construction of wells. The initiative is part of a 1.7 million euro joint action between UNICEF and the European Union aimed at improving nutrition security. The four-year programme aims to reach almost one and one-half thousand villages across Burkina Faso through various projects and interventions. The programme is not an emergency response mechanism, but rather an effort to improve nutrition security across the country so that when nutrition crises do happen, families, especially children, are better able to handle the impact.

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In Burkina Faso, a garden maintained by local women benefits a whole community

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Home » Diets that Work » In Burkina Faso, a garden maintained by local women benefits a whole community