The humanitarian crisis caused by insecurity in Burkina Faso has led to the mass displacement of thousands of people, forcing them to leave their homes to seek refuge in safer areas across the country. This displacement often leaves them extremely vulnerable, as they are deprived of a stable means of subsistence.
Faced with this worrying reality, the NGO Plan International has taken concrete steps to meet the urgent needs of these displaced populations.
In Kaya, 100 km north of Ouagadougou, more than 200 displaced women “have been organised, trained and equipped” to cultivate community fields known as “Peace Fields,” the NGO Plan International Burkina
announces.
“By the end of the winter season, the women of the ‘Champs de la Paix’ had produced 8 tonnes of okra, 700 kg of beans and 500 kg of millet, despite poor rainfall,” the NGO adds.
The “Champs de la Paix” keep the displaced people occupied, enable them to earn money and learn to live together.
Implemented with the women of the host communities, this is “an initiative that consists of organising the women with the aim of cultivating a community field, while taking advantage of the opportunity to socialise and create links conducive to the promotion of peace.”
The security crisis has forced more than two million people to flee their villages to seek refuge in other localities.
The town of Kaya in the Centre-North has become one of the places sheltering tens of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs).
In this situation, the government and its partners are supporting endogenous initiatives to restore hope.