In Liptako, Burkina Faso women are generally responsible for small-scale vegetable production, as well as raising small ruminants, alongside their domestic responsibilities. They devote between 10 and 12 hours a day to caring for children, the elderly, and maintaining the home, while 70% of women in Liptako are responsible for finding and collecting water for their entire family.
Often responsible for their families’ food security, women in Liptako face systemic challenges that greatly limit their economic empowerment and fulfillment, such as:
- Difficult access to land, credit, illiteracy, and social norms that prevent them from moving freely or trading.
- Lack of knowledge about the best techniques for efficient practice of their activities.
- Difficult access to production factors and technical knowledge.
These challenges prevent the rural women of Liptako from fully exercising their role, making it difficult to start profitable businesses and improve their yields, despite their knowledge of the land and their desire to be economic actors in their community.
Transformative solutions to address both the climate crisis and women’s economic empowerment
The Social-Economic Development of Vulnerable Populations in the Sahel (ESEPV-Sahel) project directly supports women’s and youth-led businesses, empowering them to carry out their economic activities in a profitable and sustainable manner.
This project is currently selecting 25 businesses in the vegetable farming, livestock farming, milk production, and sanitation sectors in the municipalities of Dori, Falagountou, and Gorom-Gorom. After assessing their organizational and financial capacities, the ESEPV-Sahel project will support these businesses through tailored support plans which include the development of business plans, the mobilization of funds with financial instruments adapted to their reality, and capacity-building plans that emphasize the adoption of good practices in production, processing, and marketing.
These practices will be rooted in an approach of climate change resilience, using the best methods for rational water use and selecting plant and animal species that are resistant to heat and climate hazards. The promotion of small-scale vegetable production and circular agriculture also makes it possible to combat desertification in a sustainable manner and restore the quality of damaged soils.
Creating an enabling environment for women’s economic empowerment
To help shift mindsets and create an environment conducive to women’s economic empowerment within communities, the ESEPV-Sahel project has established and trained community panelist clubs. These clubs are made up of community leaders (village development advisors, imams, village chiefs, priests, representatives of women’s civil society organizations, etc.). With a view to transforming the gender-specific barriers identified in the project, these power holders and role models are tasked with informing and raising awareness within communities about the obstacles that marginalize women and girls.
This community-driven approach is essential to achieving lasting improvements in the living conditions of rural women in Liptako. The enthusiasm generated by the project among both women and men, shows that by working together, we can safeguard our territories and build a decent, equal, and prosperous future for all.
About ESEPV-Sahel
The Socio-Economic Empowerment of Vulnerable Populations in the Sahel (ESEPV-Sahel) project is a 6-year project that aims to reduce gender-based barriers to the socio-economic participation of women and marginalized groups by promoting their access to basic social services and economic opportunities, inclusive and participatory governance in the targeted communes of Dori, Falagountou and Gorom-Gorom in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso.
To learn more about ESEPV-Sahel, visit esepv-sahel.org
