MODHEM+ project: The actors take stock of the achievements made | AIB

2023-12-21 22:47:33
Family photo of the beneficiaries of the MODHEM+ project.

Burkina/MODHEM+ Project: The actors take stock of the achievements made

Ouagadougou, (AIB)-The Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), in partnership with Orange Burkina, Hoefsloot Spatial Solutions (HSS) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, organized a workshop from 20 to 21 December 2023 in Ouagadougou. This meeting made it possible to close the “Mobile Data for Moving Herds Management and Better Incomes in Burkina Faso” (MODHEM+) project by capitalizing on the project’s achievements between the implementing actors and beneficiaries.

Burkinabe livestock breeding and agriculture are characterized by climatic variability and fluctuation in market prices. Unfortunately, the different actors in these sectors do not have enough information to help increase their agropastoral operations. This is what justified the establishment of the MODHEM+ project.

Implemented by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and its associated partners such as Orange Burkina, Hoefsloot Spatial Solutions (HSS) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, the MODHEM+ project, which started in 2020 ended in 2023.

Jean Haro, Representative of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, welcomed the achievements made.

It aimed to support farmers and breeders to improve their food security by generating income thanks to a better capacity to adapt to changes in climatic and market conditions, through the use of the information service.

A workshop aimed at drafting a technical note to capitalize on know-how and innovative practices was held on December 20 and 21, 2023 in Ouagadougou, also marking the end of MODHEM+ in its information provision component.

Satisfactory assessment

Thanks to the project, information products from geospatial data, combined with field information, are relayed in local languages ​​to end users via a call center or specialized telephone advisors who respond to user concerns.

For Honoré Zidouemba, project coordinator at SNV, the meeting made it possible to take stock of the actions carried out in order to document the most significant changes.

Esther Loeffen, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Burkina, suggested a reflection on the sustainability of the project.

“This project has created favorable conditions for the emergence of digital innovation which is widely used today by agricultural and pastoral communities in our country.

This technology is a tool that already constitutes an asset at the project level,” he declares. “This tool is a call center managed by Orange.

It is accessible from all locations in Burkina Faso and from any type of telephone.

This information system is combined with a virtual market called Garbal Yaar, which allows the marketing of agropastoral and derived products and the establishment of commercial relationships between different producers and major buyers as well as exporters in this sector,” explains Honoré Zidouemba.

Esther Loeffen, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Burkina, expressed her satisfaction with the holding of the workshop to capitalize on the project’s achievements.

Aminata Diallo, Garbal beneficiary: “With the Orange call center, we were greatly relieved.”

Above all, she suggested that participants think about how to ensure the sustainability of the GARBAL platform in order to make it benefit a greater number of stakeholders. Jean Haro, Representative of the Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Resources, encouraged the various stakeholders in the implementation of the project.

“There is really reason to raise hopes, to see much greater in relation to the digitalization of productivity at the level of pastoral and agricultural production,” he says.

Family photo of the beneficiaries of the MODHEM+ project.

“This Garbal technology allows producers to know the price of an animal in this location or that. Comparatively, it could move towards the most buoyant markets,” he continues.

Through the Orange Burkina call center (777), agricultural and pastoral producers can obtain information on the availability of surface water and pastures, rainfall, the position and condition of transhumance tracks, the prices of livestock and agricultural products.

Despite the end of the MODHEM+ project, GARBAL solutions still remain functional. Aminata Diallo, beneficiary, was delighted with Garbal’s contribution.

Marjon Tuinsma, Country Director of SNV in Burkina.

“This project brought a lot of relief to agropastoralists in this context where it was necessary to be resilient and continue to carry out agropastoral actions. With the GARBAL call center, we were greatly relieved, especially the producers. Those who wanted to sell their products found buyers even in situations where it was difficult to travel to make sales, especially in relation to the climate, the seasons and the type of production desired at a time when we were first in COVID-19 and in the somewhat more difficult situation of insecurity,” she notes.

SNV has been present in Burkina Faso for more than 50 years, working alongside populations in the water, agri-food and renewable energy sectors. As a reminder, the first phase of MODHEM was launched in 2016. MODHEM+, also including since 2021 a pastoral infrastructure component financed by the Swiss Cooperation office in Ouagadougou, will continue until 2024.

Burkina Faso Information Agency

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