49 young people trained in the Rural Promotion Centers (CPR) in Burkina Faso, are taking part in a capacity-building program at Songhai in Porto-Novo for rural development actors in their countries since Monday, August 31, 2015. The initiative is supported by the West African Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP) in Burkina Faso.
The Rural Promotion Centers (CPR) in Burkina Faso, are institutions of training and promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship among young people. There are 8 such centers ensuring basic training for rural youths in the areas of crop production, animal husbandry and handicraft. Every two years, they train an average of two hundred and fifty (250) agricultural producers. But, according to the Chief Officer in charge of support services for the setting up and monitoring of CPR post-training, these youths should also benefit from skills and specific experience in some areas. According to Boniface Ouédraogo, they can then respond better to the many challenges facing agriculture in Burkina. This is the reason why this one-month training was initiated. Eventually, the trained youths will develop a project to start or expand their business, based on the chosen specialization field, with focus on the economic viability and the analysis of initial costs of the project.
The WAAPP approach, firstly, lies on the integration and harmonization of national agricultural policies and secondly, the establishment of close links between research, extension, farmers and the private sector. Through this training, the project managers also aim at an “intercultural mixing between participants and Songhai graduate trainees, knowledge exchange and the creation of a network of agricultural entrepreneurs in West Africa”. There are 16 females among the young producers admitted for the training. About twenty of them are sent to Songhai Savalou site based on the chosen specialization field: food crops and vegetable farming.
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