Invest in Agriculture

On March 16th and 17th I took part in a forum in Laval, Mayenne in France, called North-South Cross examination of Agriculture in Burkina Faso. The forum was organised by the Union of Burkinabe nationals of the West in France (UBGOF) and by the Committe for the twin cities of Laval and Garango. Garango is a town of 70 000 inhabitants in the province of Boulgo in Burkina Faso. I would like to come back to one of the themes of the forum: The financing of agriculture and livestock farming in Burkina Faso - the issue of agribusiness versus family farming.

Fighting malaria – an investment in the future

Today, April 25th is the World Malaria Day. It is a timely moment to see where we stand with regard to this parasite induced disease. On a world wide scale the number of deaths due to an attack of malaria was an estimated 660 000 in 2010 and at present every 60 seconds a child dies of the disease (mainly children below the age of 5) in sub-Saharan Africa. However all hope is not lost.

Only a well was missing, to make the celebration complete.

In writing this newsletter, I discover that today, Friday the 22nd of March 2013, is World Water Day. A happy coincidence! I was just going to tell you about what happened to the pastoralists at a camp in the Bulkiemdé province, where the lack of water is excruciating.