Ziro: Helen Keller International organized a major restitution and consultation workshop on Wednesday as part of its commitment to effectively combat food and nutritional insecurity in Ziro province to sustainably transform the living conditions of vulnerable populations.

According to Burkina Information Agency, the meeting brought together the main players in local development around the innovative project ‘Cultivating a Better Future’, financed by a European private foundation. The three-and-a-half-year project aims to sustainably transform the living conditions of vulnerable populations through nutrition-sensitive, climate-smart agriculture focused on women’s empowerment.

Operating in 40 villages in Ziro, the project aims to improve food security, nutritional diversity and the income of low-income households, particularly those of women and children under five. Chaired by the High Commissioner of Ziro Province, Saba Zorom©, President of the Monitoring Committee, the workshop provided an opportunity to take stock of the first five months of implementation, identify obstacles, propose realistic solutions and strengthen intersectoral coordination.

It also served as a framework for the development of a draft decree formalizing the creation of the project monitoring committee. Through this workshop, Helen Keller International marks a new step in its strategic support for rural communities, focusing on local innovation, promoting indigenous products, and strengthening the resilience of populations in the face of climate and economic shocks.

The frank and inclusive discussions highlighted the urgency of strengthening synergies of action, sustaining achievements and maintaining rigorous monitoring to achieve the project’s objectives by 2028. With “Cultivating a Better Future,” a whole dynamic of social and economic transformation is being set in motion in Ziro, a promise of a nutritious, more equitable and more sustainable future.

Participants included the prefects and general secretaries of the province’s six municipalities, provincial directors in charge of youth and the environment, humanitarian action and health, as well as the provincial coordinator of women from Ziro, the defense and security forces and representatives of technical services.