Burkina Faso has been showing a strong interest for sustainable development. The country has recently started the adoption of its strategy to develop over 2000 ecovillages in the country, called “Strategie Nationale de Creation des Écovillages 2018-2027″. The project is part of the government’s effort to revamp and structurally transform the country’s economy. The “Plan national de développement économique et social” (PNDES) aims to achieve sustainable and resilient economic growth, while increasing the number of jobs and the overall welfare of the Burkinese population.
By transforming its villages into ecovillages, the Burkina Faso’s government will address several issues that the country has been facing, such as food insecurity, desertification and poverty. This goes in conformity with the 2030 Agenda and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), to which the country has committed itself. To better evaluate the outcomes of the strategy, five strategic goals have been set:
- Strengthening local governance;
- Improving food and nutrition security;
- Preservation of the environment;
- Promotion of local entrepreneurship;
- Improving access to finance.
Burkina Faso, which has been working closely with PAGE since 2014, drew on years of cooperation with PAGE to prepare its national policy on green villages. In addition, the country has been actively engaging with players at both international and regional levels to help find solutions for the impeding challenges of this century, such as climate change. This can be seen in the several treaties and conventions signed and ratified by the country in the past years.
PAGE provided support to the National Green Economy Strategy, which serves as the backbone of the country’s PNDES plan. Throughout the years, several macroeconomic and sectoral assessments were carried out to collaborate with this strategy, especially the Green Economy Assessment that identified key sectors for green investments.