WOMEN'S ACCESS TO LAND IN BURKINA FASO

Ouagadougou hosted the Women's Symposium on economic issues related to securing agricultural land and related activities. Initiated by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, this activity, which brings together civil society leaders, parliamentarians, local elected officials and customary chiefs, is part of the project quotOne world without hunger: women's land rights in South Africaquot. 'Where is quot. Although they constitute the main labor force in the agricultural sector in Burkina Faso, women have restricted and temporary rights to land. It is in this context that the German Konrad Adenauer Foundation initiated the project quotOne world without hunger: women's land rights in West Africaquot in Benin, Togo and Burkina in the Sahel regions (Dori ) and the East (Gourma, Tapoa). In order to reflect on the economic issues related to the securing of agricultural land and related activities, the Foundation brought together around fifty players for a 48-hour symposium in Ouagadougou. While congratulating the organizers for holding this symposium, the sponsor, Laurence Marshall Ilboudo, Minister for Women, recalled the reforms undertaken by the government with a view to providing security accessible to all strata of society and which resulted in the issuance of more than 5,000 certificates of rural land ownership (APFR) throughout the national territory. And more than half of these documents belong to women, according to the sponsor who recognizes that there are still some difficulties related to the transformation of these certificates into scrolls that can offer women entrepreneurship opportunities. In the same logic, the resident representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) Foundation, Florian Karner, indicated that land ownership will not only allow women to exploit the land, but also to obtain financing from banks. and other financial institutions. “This contributes to the growth of land productivity and the economic development of households and especially to reducing poverty in households,” he said. The opening ceremony was followed by the inaugural communication presented by the teacher-researcher and 4th Vice-President of the National Assembly, Elise Thiombiano/Ilboudo. She first made a historical reminder of two women who refused to submit and who had political, economic and social bases: the princesses Guimbi Ouattara in Guiriko and Nayimsondimba in Mogho de Boussouma. Like these strong women who fought for land, Ms. Thiombiano invited the other half of the sky to fight relentlessly. “Even if in the past, the woman did not always have access to land, she felt safe. That's not the case today. It is true that things will not change overnight, but we are hopeful that the women who are aware of this will win their case tomorrow,” said the parliamentarian, who is convinced that “giving land to women is is to secure humanity”. In the meantime, the wish of the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ouagadougou, Ingo Herbert, is to see the participants of this symposium be real advocates for the defense of women's land rights so that they can have an impact further the Burkinabè economy.