Ouagadougou: Journalists visited the Peace Fields of Farakoba and Tolotama in the urban commune of Bobo-Dioulasso on Monday. This community initiative, run primarily by internally displaced women, allows them to feed themselves and become self-reliant within the community.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the regional director of Family and Solidarity of Guiriko, Olle Kam, stated that this community initiative, which constitutes a form of assistance to internally displaced persons, particularly women due to insecurity, is encouraged by its supervising ministry. "It was necessary to develop humanitarian assistance, and that is what led to the creation of the Fields of Peace in the Guiriko region," Mr. Kam explained.

He mentioned that the initiative was supported by his department to enable displaced women to take care of themselves rather than resorting to begging. The regional director also highlighted that several activities are carried out in these collective fields, including the production of maize, cowpeas, and soybeans, with the support of a few men.

Olle Kam noted that there are other similar fields in the country, while acknowledging that those in Guiriko are examples among many others. The regional coordinator for women in Guiriko, in charge of managing the Farakoba Peace Field, Solange Traore/Some, expressed satisfaction with this initiative, which gathers several internally displaced women who previously wandered along the roads in search of their daily sustenance.

Ms. Traore also confirmed that the field, which has grown from 5 to 15 hectares, now allows 220 women to produce approximately 150 bags of corn, cowpeas, and other crops. She advocated for support in the form of agricultural inputs and equipment to achieve better yields.

Solange Traore intends to produce more during the current wet agricultural season of 2026. Her colleague in charge of the Tolotama Peace Field concurred, stating that this initiative allows women to be dignified and take charge of their own lives.

Aminata Ouedraogo and Daouda Traore, working respectively at the Tolotama Peace Field and the Farakoba Field, both welcomed this community initiative which considerably eases their living conditions. They finally called on the authorities to provide more support to both fields for the betterment of displaced women in the urban commune of Bobo-Dioulasso.