Fruit and vegetable sector: A union is born

To stimulate higher professionalism among fruit and vegetable growers of Burkina Faso, delegates from several regions of the country met in Ouagadougou on May 6^{th 2006 and launched a union of their own under the name UNFL-B.}

On the 5th and 6th of May participants from the rural world came together in Ouagadougou for a general constituent assembly, naming their new organisation Union Nationale des Producteurs de Fruits et Légumes du Burkina – UNFL-B (The National Union of Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Burkina). It is lead by Marc Gansonré and has an executive bureau of six members.

According to its president, the union is to be a channel for exchange of views, co-ordination among producers and dialogue between various partners in the market gardening sector. Delegates from some 30 provinces of the country assembled and decided at the end of two days of debate and information to set up the new organisation.

The representative of the National Office of Producer Organisations and Support to Rural Institutions (DOPAIR) Mrs Monique Ilboudo said that “many challenges” await the executive of UNFL-B, because of the enormous difficulties of the sector in spite of its prominent place in the economy of Burkina.

The president of the new union is well aware of this and recognises that the union must work hard to show the way and become a point of reference. “That is why its executive bureau has made the pledge to work relentlessly, with the participation of all, to see to it that the union becomes a leading reference, through the strength of its proposals and its participation in the country’s development.”

The challenging tasks ahead are well known: higher professional standards, food sovereignty, competitive edge in markets … as the representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mamadou Coulibaly, recalled at the opening ceremony.

He ensured producers of the support of the Government. This was quickly picked up by President Bassiaka Dao of the National Federation of Agricultural Producers (Fédération des Professionnels Agricoles du Burkina), under which the UNFL-B was set up. He took the opportunity to ask the Government for a reduction of taxes on fruit and vegetables. This would boost the market gardening trade of Burkina, which previously ranked honourably on the continental score-board but has now fallen behind to the lower levels.

Souleymane Sawadogo