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The EU has agreed to provide Burkina Faso with 16 million euro (US $15.9 million) for water management activities aimed at reducing rural poverty, and to support the private sector.
The agreement was signed between Burkina Faso's finance minister, Jean Baptiste Compaore, and the EU representative in the West African country, Antonio Garcia Velazquez.
It includes 10 million euro(US $9.95 million) that will go to a six-year programme to develop local expertise in water resources planning and management in the western and southwestern parts of the country. By the end of the programme communities are expected to have more access to drinking water, while authorities should have a better knowledge of water resources available in those areas.
The programme is also expected to help improve the preservation of water resources.
A previous five-year programme that ended last year resulted in 400 wells, 15 small dams and the computerisation of water resources management. The EU provided about seven billion CFA francs (just under US $10 million) for that project.
"This new programme will create adequate conditions for social emancipation in our country because the funds go directly towards supporting populations in the countryside, where the incidence of poverty is much higher," Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Salif Diallo said at the signing ceremony.
More than 90 percent of Burkina Faso's 11 million people live in rural areas. Some 51 percent of them live below the poverty line, i.e. on less than one US dollar a day. The semi-arid West African country often faces water shaortages. Fearing a poor rainy season this year, the Burkinabe authorities have launched an operation to induce rain through technology.
The second part of the EU funding - just under US $6 million - will be used to increase the competitiveness of the private sector. The four-year programme aims to provide entrepreneurs with adequate skills, equip them to provide better-quality services, and encourage them to have "transparent finances and healthy business management".
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
