As a landlocked country in the Sahel with relatively few mineral resources, Burkina Faso is heavily dependent on imports and yield from its own agriculture. Farmers, however, have to struggle with erosion, soil depletion and frequent droughts and when it does rain there is the danger of flooding. Gradual climate change compounds these problems, which have the severest impact on the poor rural population.

Fighting poverty together

The low level of education and training has been identified as one of the greatest obstacles and challenges for national development. This is why promoting vocational and technical education and training geared to practice and needs is an explicit aim of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The promotion of working artisans and farmers also contributes to poverty reduction.

Education and development

Development cooperation between Burkina Faso and Austria started with a training programme for Burkinian youth in the 1960s. Burkina Faso was singled out as a priority country of Austrian Development Cooperation in 1993 and an ADC coordination office has been in operation in the capital Ouagadougou since 1996.

The bilateral agreement, Mémorandum d'Entente sur le Programme Indicatif de Coopération, defines the substantive priorities of cooperation for 2008-2013: support for craftspeople, micro and small enterprises, vocational and technical education and training and sustainable rural development. A regional development programme in the Boucle du Mouhoun region in the northwest of the country combines these three priority sectors.