OUR MISSION
Our Goals, Vision & Values
About us
FarmSahel is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the vision of a prosperous Africa, sustainable through community enabled permaculture, beginning with communities in Burkina Faso.
OUR PROGRAMS
Climate Resilience
Restore degraded land using agroforestry practices to support agricultural production and help improve water quality, air quality, soil health, and wildlife habitat.
Food Growth
Help farmers access quality seed and training on regenerative agriculture to increase their yield and income. Triple the growing season and improve nutrition by empowering farmers to produce vegetables throughout the year using irrigated lands.
Community Development
Drill water wells, install solar powered pumps for clean drinking water for the community and for irrigation systems for farmers. Organize farmers into agricultural cooperatives to foster shared economic growth.
Updates: News & Stories
Dear Donors, We wanted to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude for your generous contributions towards digging a water well for the women farmers of Simbri village in Bindé. Your support has truly made a significant impact on the lives of these hardworking individuals and their entire community. Thanks to your donations, the women farmers now have access to clean drinking water, which is essential for their health and well-being. Moreover, the availability of irrigation systems will enable them to cultivate off-season vegetables, enhancing their crop yields and livelihoods. Your compassionate act has empowered these women to achieve sustainable farming practices and secure a brighter future for themselves and their families. We cannot emphasize enough the profound difference your donations have made. Through your kindness and generosity, you have brought hope and positive change to a community that greatly needed it. Your belief in our cause and your willingness to contribute have truly touched our hearts. On behalf of the women farmers of Simbri village, we extend our heartfelt appreciation for your support. Your kindness and empathy have inspired us to continue working tirelessly to improve the lives of those in need. We will keep you updated on the progress of the water well project and its impact on the community. Once again, thank you for your incredible generosity and for being champions of positive change. Your support has made a lasting difference, and we are forever grateful. With sincere gratitude, Madjalia Seynou Executive Director FarmSahel
In late 2022 Burkina Faso was one of the western Sahel countries to receive an onslaught of heavy and unpredictable rain. From June to October of 2022, over 800 people died, and flooding destroyed millions of hectares of farmland. Human-caused climate change made the 2022 wet season 20% more severe, exacerbating the chronic food security crisis facing Burkina Faso and the Sahel. Crops in most of the Western Sahel received 40% less water than needed. As a result, in Burkina Faso, crop production dropped by 10% compared to the previous five-year average. Food prices rose significantly due to a low harvest and a lack of imports hampered by the war in Ukraine. Experts wanted to find a link between the 2021 drought and the 2022 deadly rainfall in the Sahel. Unfortunately, it was impossible to detect trends or plan preventative measures due to a lack of weather instruments. Now Burkina Faso is modernizing its technology to track and predict the weather as the onslaught of climate change continues. The European Union funded a pilot program called ClimSA which started in Burkina Faso and is now moving to 17 other West African countries. This program allows countries like Burkina Faso to better predict and track weather. Over 300 stations across Burkina Faso take measurements of temperature, precipitation, humidity, radiation levels, and atmospheric pressure. With this information, trained Burkinabe meteorologists can refine forecasts and monitor the impact of climate change. Weather stations and weather prediction systems were severely lacking across the entire continent of Africa. From 1990 to 2019, Africa received only 3.5% of global funding for climate research. Now, with the ClimSA program, meteorologists are able to communicate better with the general public. In Burkina Faso, agricultural bulletins are sent to local radio stations in eight different languages with specialized weather reports. With over 900,000 daily listeners, farmers are taking advantage of the new information. They are able to know when to plant and listen to seasonal weather forecasts. The meteorologists also use the large radio audience to explain to farmers how to improve yields, manage water, and refresh degraded soil. The information collected has shown that there has been a steady increase in temperatures in Burkina Faso over the years. Rainfall is coming late in the season and only as heavy and destructive downpours. As meteorologists were setting up the new advanced weather systems across Burkina Faso, in Egypt, a breakthrough was made at COP27. The United Nations Climate Change conference provided an agreement called "loss and damage," which plans to fund vulnerable countries hit hard by climate disasters. The governments involved in creating the agreement will establish a transitional committee to make recommendations on funding arrangements at COP28. This committee's first meeting will be in March of 2023. For the globe to transition into a low-carbon economy, it is estimated to cost between $4 to $6 trillion a year. Activists continue to worry about the promise of change, but the lack of action as developed countries have not yet met the $100 billion per year by 2020 as promised. The new loss and damage fund will help countries like Burkina Faso continue to mitigate climate change disasters. ClimSA is another tool that will be life-saving to farmers and rural Burkinabe people who may be in a storm's path. But, unfortunately, developed countries need to do more not only to finance but to transition into a zero-carbon economy. https://unfccc.int/news/cop27-reaches-breakthrough-agreement-on-new-loss-and-damage-fund-for-vulnerable-countries https://www.lemonde.fr/en/le-monde-africa/article/2022/11/09/cop27-burkina-faso-uses-improved-methods-to-predict-rainfall-and-extreme-weather-events_6003529_124.html https://www.carbonbrief.org/west-africas-deadly-rainfall-in-2022-made-80-times-more-likely-by-climate-change/
Burkina Faso in the 1980s, then called Upper Volta, was bursting at the seams. An infant country exploited by western colonizers, the new people in power were trying to navigate the difficulty of leading. Then in 1983, with the Burkinabe people suffering, the young former Prime Minister, Thomas Sankara, became president after a popularly-supported coup. At just 33 years old, Sankara had big ideas and understood the everyday struggle of the Burkinabe people. He changed the country’s name from its colonial name to Burkina Faso, meaning the Land of Incorruptible People. He immediately launched programs that focused on bettering the country for every citizen, from the cities to the rural farmland. President Sankara focused on self-sufficiency for Burkina Faso to prevent famine. He constructed a nationwide literary campaign as his government built schools nationwide. Sankara protected children, advancing vaccine drives and building health centers. While Sankara was in office, he organized infrastructure that helped vaccinate more than two million children against meningitis, yellow fever, and measles. Sankara also ordered the construction of over 100 km of rail line. He knew of Burkina Faso’s water difficulties at the time and was able to raise total cereal production by 75% by building water reservoirs and redistributing private land to the poor. Sankara was ahead of his time, seeing the desertification of the Sahel and developing a plan to plant 10 million trees to combat it. Additionally, Sankara was against all forms of imperialism, including aid. He rejected aid from the international monetary fund, which forces countries to enact certain policies which have been shown to be detrimental to the long-term viability of the economy. President Sankara completed many of these programs, which benefited the everyday Burkinabe through little to no outside funding. Unfortunately, Sankara was not able to continue his vision of a healthy and prosperous Burkina Faso. His life was horrifically cut short in an October 1987 assassination. Blaise Compaore took over leadership in a coup d’état. However, Sankara’s idea and spirit still lives on in the soul of Burkina Faso and in the minds of every small farmer working to feed their family. They have been waiting for another young imaginative leader to focus on the families suffering the most. That hope came alive in October 20222 when Ibrahim Traore became president of Burkina Faso through a military coup. Only 34 years old, this young army captain has been inspired by the ideals Thomas Sankara left behind. Already, President Traore is focusing on the everyday people of Burkina Faso, giving them hope that the course of the country can change. Since taking office, President Traore has outlined a comprehensive plan for farmers to revive irrigated agriculture. He understands the national security situation and is working to increase the productivity of irrigated areas by at least 50%. He is also making agricultural equipment available to farmers at subsidized prices. One of his biggest domestic drives is his vaccination drive, not for people, but for animals. His government is hoping to vaccinate over 32 million poultry, 6.5 million cattle, and 14 million small ruminants. Protecting livestock against deadly contagious diseases and giving families more security over their farm and their food. President Traore has already secured over 2 million francs in funding for the undertaking. The new government is committed to bringing sustainable food and nutritional security to Burkina Faso. For many everyday Burkinabe people desperate for stability, President Traore is their only hope. As the ideals of Thomas Sankara echo through the cities and the rural plains of Burkina Faso, public cooperation will be the way forward for the country. Not one person can drive change, as Sankara said, “We must dare to invent the future.” https://www.agriculture.bf/jcms/pv10_104791/fr/campagne-agropastorale-de-saison-seche-une-batterie-de-mesures-pour-l-intensification-de-l-agriculture-irriguee-et-la-protection-sanitaire-du-cheptel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sankara
