Zondoma/Food Security: Technical Committee Members Assess the Situation

The technical committee of the Zondoma Provincial Food Security Council held its first session of the year on Friday, September 6, 2024 in Gourcy. The implementation of the agrosylvo-pastoral and fishing offensive as well as the wet season in the province were at the center of the discussions.The first session of the technical committee of the Zondoma Provincial Food Security Council was held on Friday, September 6, 2024 at the Gourcy High Commission.Chaired by the provincial director of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, Marie Théodora Kyelem, this session was placed under the theme "Contribution of development partners in the operationalization of the agropastoral and fisheries offensive 2021-2025 in the Northern region: State of play and perspectives".The members of the committee, made up of representatives of decentralized technical services, stakeholders from the agricultural and animal world, as well as development partners, discussed the implementation of the agro-pastoral and fisheries offensive and the progress of the wet season in the province through communications presented by Laurent Zoungrana, technical agent at the provincial directorate of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources of Zondoma.Before getting to the heart of the matter, Mr. Zoungrana recalled that the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries offensive is an ambitious State program whose objective is to achieve food sovereignty by 2025, by boosting the rice, corn, potato, wheat, fish, livestock/meat, poultry and mango sectors.According to the communicator, in the province of Zondoma, which includes the municipalities of Bassi, Boussou, Gourcy, Léba and Tougo, the implementation of this initiative resulted in the provision by the State and its partners of approximately 69.2 tonnes of seeds, 779.05 tonnes of fertilizers, 67 litres and 15.4 kg of phytosanitary products, 253 agricultural tools, 1,211 breeding animals, 213 tonnes of livestock feed, 1.4 tonnes of fish feed, etc. To this must be added the plowing of 539.5 ha of lowlands and 6.05 ha of market gardening areas, as well as the vaccination of more than 21,000 animals."Each municipality received a tractor from the state for the implementation of the offensive," added the presenter.Regarding the current agricultural campaign, the rainfall and the appearance of the fields are satisfactory, according to Mr. Zoungrana, who however deplores some attacks of armyworms and aphids in certain places."In the market place, cereals are available," he added, specifying however that the prices are considered exorbitant. For example, a 100 kg bag of millet is currently selling for 36,000 CFA francs at the Gourcy market.At the end of the discussions, the chair of the session, who was accompanied by the regional director of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries of the North, Issifou Ouédraogo, expressed her satisfaction with the quality of the discussions and invited all stakeholders to play their part in achieving the objectives of the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries offen sive.Source: Burkina Information Agency