Bittou/Environment: beneficiaries satisfied with the LOGMe project interventions

The populations of Bittou (Central-Eastern region) beneficiaries of the Sahel Lands of Opportunity Project (LOGMe) expressed, on Friday, their satisfaction with the interventions carried out in the commune.

“We are very satisfied with the LOGMe project. Our work has become much easier now,” declared Moumini Tarnagda, representative of the Wend panga cooperative of Zin-Zin, in the commune of Bittou, which operates a nutritious garden, developing products such as moringa, okra and onions.

Mr. Tarnagda spoke to journalists during a workshop held in Ouagadougou in place of a field visit canceled for security reasons.

“The area we farmed was 0.5 hectares and we drew water with watering cans from a hand pump borehole. But since we approached the project and benefited from its support, the surface area has been enlarged to one (1) hectare and our borehole has been transformed and equipped with a solar plate, a castle, a fountain and three basins which make it easier for us to water our plants,” Mr. Tarnagda said.

For this market gardener, despite the difficult security situation due to terrorist threats which temporarily stopped work on the site, “everyone’s satisfaction with the project is a reality”.

“In any case, the site is there and we pray to God that the security situation continues to improve to quickly resume work,” he added.

El Hadj Hamidou Tarnagda, member of the local section of the Confédération Paysanne de Faso (CPF), also shares the opinion of the representative of the Wend panga cooperative of Zin-Zin on the benefits of the LOGMe project.

He says he has noticed “a clear improvement in yields in honey production and market gardening” thanks to his interventions with the beneficiary communities.

“What we also really liked was the provision of water for the benefit of producers, which was really very useful,” insisted El Hadj Tarnagda.

Josephine Nana, president of the Delwendé Association of parents of children with disabilities in Bittou, was also delighted with the support of the LOGMe project.

“We received training in the production of soap, ointment, liquid soap and shea-based scrubs and today we produce some for ourselves, to take care of our children and we sell the surplus,” a- she argued.

“Currently we no longer worry about the hygiene of our children with disabilities,” she confided, adding that before the project, the difficulties linked to the issue constituted a major concern for the parents.

The head of the departmental service in charge of the Environment of Bittou, Nian Ouena, also welcoming the nature of the interventions of the LOGMe project, praised “the participatory approach that he developed upon his arrival and which partly justifies the successes achieved.

In terms of support, he emphasizes that the technical environmental service mainly helped, among other things, in the mobilization of nurserymen, the implementation of assisted natural regeneration (ANN) and supervision in production plants and carrying out plantations.

For the president of the Bittou municipal delegation, Mohamed Lamine Diabaté, the advent of the LOGMe project was a boon for the populations of the municipality.

He noted that despite the insecurity, the project managed to meet expectations, by carrying out its planned program of activities with the support of local stakeholders such as technical services and administrative authorities.

Mr. Diabaté, moreover, expressed his wish to see the project extended after the last remaining year of its implementation, for the benefit of other communities in the commune.

Funded by the Italian Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, through the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the three-year LOGMe project aims to make a significant and lasting contribution to the restoration of landscapes in the Sahel while creating income-generating opportunities for local communities.

It operates in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Niger. In addition to Bittou, six other communes in the Center-East and Center-South regions are the localities benefiting from the project in Burkina Faso.

Source: Burkina Information Agency