Burkina Faso’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karamoko Jean Marie Traore, stakeholders and the Diaspora in support of food sovereignty, met during a high-level panel discussion on agricultural challenges facing Burkina Faso and the Confederation of Sahel States (CSA).
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation, and Burkinabe Abroad participated as patron of this meeting, which was organized around the theme: “Food Sovereignty in Burkina Faso and the Confederation of Sahel States.”
The panel on food challenges in the Sahel, initiated by the SGA-ALTM-BBI consortium in collaboration with the CSA Ministries of Agriculture and Foreign Affairs, brought together institutional leaders, experts, producers, and representatives of the Diaspora.
The discussions focused on public policies, resilient agricultural techniques, and sustainable agro-pastoral practices that can strengthen food self-sufficiency in the Sahel region.
Co-chairing the first panel with the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture, Yassia Kindo, the Burkinabe Foreign Minister highlighted the significant agricultural potential of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
According to him, the three ESA countries have undertaken concerted efforts to guarantee food security for their populations and consolidate their economic sovereignty.
“We share the same sovereignty objectives, the same development goals,” he stated.
Minister Traore also emphasized the need to strengthen the Confederation’s internal market to facilitate the movement of agricultural products and boost economic exchanges among member states.
Speaking about the role of Burkinabe living abroad, he stated that the diaspora represents a strategic lever for transforming production systems, and commended its expertise and investment capacity.
“In terms of expertise, we have a diaspora that has much to contribute to the transformation of our production systems,” he stated.
The minister concluded by calling for the expansion of consultation frameworks and the pooling of efforts among the various stakeholders to accelerate agricultural development and strengthen food sovereignty within the African and Southern Africa (ASA) region.
The opening ceremony was presided over, on behalf of the patron, by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Hermann Yirigouin Toe.
HO/te/Sf/fss/gik/APA