Stakeholders from the Center-South region, mainly composed of students in the agro-sylvopastoral sector of the Manga University Center, took part, Tuesday, in an information and discussion workshop on government policy aimed at promoting local products, at the initiative of the regional directorate of Industry, Commerce and Crafts of the Center-South.
“The objective of this workshop is to inform students, particularly those working in agro-sylvopastoral, about the content of ”Consuming Locally Month” and the promotion of local products,” explained Guillaume Dofini, the regional director of Industry, Commerce and Crafts for the Centre-Sud.
He was speaking after the opening of the information and exchange workshop, organized by his organization for the benefit of students from the Manga University Center (CUM) and stakeholders in the local product processing chain in the Center-South region.
For Mr. Dofini, the choice to have a majority of students participate in this meeting is not insignificant.
“We fe
lt that in view of what is planned for them after their training, it was relevant to give them a basis on what the government is doing in terms of promoting local products,” he explained.
He added that it was appropriate to equip these students who “are future promoters of businesses in the agri-food processing sector, or future executives who will put their skills at the service of businesses operating in this field.”
Eliane Nana, a third-year student in Agrosylvopastoral at the CUM, shares the opinion of the regional director in charge of Crafts in the Centre-South.
“As a student in agro-silvopastoral, this information is useful to me, because I aspire to undertake in the processing of agricultural products at the end of my university course. I therefore find it important to know the government’s initiatives in this area,” she confided.
Herman Zoungrana, regional president of the Chamber of Trades and Crafts of the Centre-South, is also pleased with the participation of students, “future entrepreneurs”,
in community mobilization for the promotion of local products.
He also welcomes the coincidence of the local celebration of the Month of Local Consumption (MCL) 2024 with the Ouagadougou International Crafts Fair (SIAO), two events which promote local know-how to the national and international public.
The Burkinabe State has indeed committed to promoting local products with the aim of promoting, among other things, a significant increase in their market share, an increase in the volume of processed raw materials and the stimulation of the emergence of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors.
This approach is in line with that of the ministers responsible for trade of the UEMOA member countries, who decided during their conference on October 25, 2019 to devote the month of October to promoting local consumption within the UEMOA area.
The 2024 edition of the Month of Local Consumption (MCL), celebrated in the Centre-South region as in all other regions of Burkina Faso, is held under the theme: “Consumin
g locally, a lever for industrial development, competitiveness and resilience of UEMOA economies”.
“This theme, as relevant as it is current, is part of the aspirations of our country, which seeks to build a structured local economy, based on our endogenous potential,” declared the governor of the Centre-Sud, Yvette Nacoulma, who chaired the workshop.
In addition to this meeting, a visit to the industrial and local product processing units is planned as part of the local celebration of the 5th edition of the MCL, with members of the region’s constituted bodies.
Source: Burkina Information Agency