Water storage & vegetable garden in Burkina Faso

Drought makes life difficult in rural Burkina Faso. From October to June there is hardly any rainfall, partly due to climate change. Farming is then (almost) impossible and the lack of safe drinking water causes health problems, especially for vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. With this project in the villages of Salétenga and Zomkomé, about 20,000 inhabitants will get better access to water through the construction of dams. The ecological vegetable garden to be created will benefit 50 women with a household of eight people on average.

Storing water from the rainy season

Storage of water that falls during the rainy season is badly needed in Salétenga and Zomkomé. However, the village of Salétenga has no water supply at all due to its isolated location. Therefore, a dam is being built there. The village of Zomkomé does have a water storage facility, but drought caused the dike to break. This has left Zomkomé and surrounding villages with almost no water at all. Thanks to this project, the dam in Zomkomé will be repaired.

Ecological vegetable garden

An ecological vegetable garden is also being set up in Salétenga for fifty women. Half of this group are women who have fled violence elsewhere in the country. The construction of the garden and training in vegetable gardening techniques (e.g. cultivation of cabbage, tomatoes, aubergines, use of organic pesticides, growing trees) will provide the families concerned with more and better food. Moreover, selling vegetables generates income.

Looking to the future

For both the two water facilities and the kitchen garden, committees will be set up to be responsible for maintenance and management. Traditional authorities are also represented on these committees. Users pay an annual contribution, from which management and maintenance are paid. For pastoralists, this contribution is usually set according to the number of cows one has.

This project is implemented by the local organisation FAS and Support Fund Sahel Projects Foundation with support from Wild Geese Foundation. Active Health Foundation supports this project with a financial donation.