Bourma, Burkina Faso: our support for the WOWnature project to help farmers achieve self-sufficiency and avert the danger of desertification continues.
WOWnature’s activities in Bourma are conducted within the framework of the ‘Project to improve the nutritional conditions of women and children in the health districts of Garango and Tenkodogo – AID 11874’, a programme of the Italian NGO AES-CCC co-funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.
WOWnature’s social reforestation initiative, in which Salvador decided to participate in 2021, devotes special attention to women and their emancipation: by adopting at a distance some species that are fundamental for the community’s subsistence, such as the Baobab, the Karité, the Moringa and the Neré, we contribute to the agrarian education of Burkinabé women, who learn how to take care of the trees and process their fruits to make products for both food and cosmetics.
A project that is therefore not only committed to restoring biodiversity to areas that are degraded and suffering due to aridity, but which also intends to promote female empowerment.
Trees planted
Since the start of the project to date, more than 5,000 trees have been planted thanks to the Union de Femmes de Garango, the women’s association for the management of green areas. The next planting is planned for June-July 2023, the only time window in which the climate allows the planting of trees and shrubs.
News
Among the most important news from the last update, we know that thanks to the excellent work carried out by the Union de Femmes, some food and cosmetic products derived from processing the fruits of the donated trees (moringa flour, oils, shea butter…) have obtained ECOCERT certification, the attestation that the product complies with environmental and social requirements.
For the future
To further guarantee the quality of tree-derived products, the Bourma community has set in motion the procedure to join the WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), the fair trade organization committed to improving the living conditions of economically marginalized producers.
This means that products will be able to leave the local trade, limited to the capital Ouagadogou, and find sales and distribution channels in Europe as well. A really important step forward, which will add value to the products by making the source of income derived from the sustainable management of these green areas secure and stable.
An achievement that gives everyone great satisfaction, and that stimulates even more the desire to contribute to reaching the goal of 10,000 trees with WOWnature!
