HOPE FOR BURKINA FUTURES integrates nutrition into its agriculture programming to help farm families improve their health. We work with farmer groups, savings groups and care groups to ensure that households can not only grow nutritious foods but also increase their income so they can purchase nutritious foods, seek health services and invest in their children’s nutrition.
Our innovative voucher and fair initiatives provide access to local nutrient-rich seed and crops while sharing practical information about nutrition. We also help small and medium-size businesses to produce and sell fortified ingredients. We empower women by improving intrahousehold decision making, reducing workload through labor-saving technology, and increasing their control over income and resources.

OUR APPROACH

• Agriculture production: We support the growing of nutrient-rich crops through CRS’ innovative vouchers and fairs initiatives that provide seeds along with nutrition messaging and decision-making support. We promote holistic home gardens, from the sustainable supply of seed to the marketing of surplus vegetables.
• Agriculture income: Our approach looks beyond just increasing income. It also influences the use of the income for nutrition-related behaviors. By using interventions that involve couples’ communication within the household, such as HOPE FOR BURKINA FUTURES’ Faithful House approach, we have noticed that households are making more equitable decisions.
• Women’s empowerment: By improving women’s equitable access to resources, training and markets, we support agriculture production increases for consumption and sale. We make concerted efforts to increase women’s voices in the household and community decisions, while reducing their workload through labor-saving technologies and shared family responsibilities. We broaden knowledge of nutrition needs for pregnant and lactating women while they are working on the farm. Our approach expands the involvement not only of females, but also of males and the broader community when appropriate.

Long-term programming objectives

Long-term programs focus on building a foundation for sustainable food security. These programs seek to change the conditions under which long-term hunger and poverty develop and persist. Programs focus on areas such as education, natural resource management and peacebuilding.

• In education, we seek to develop human capital by providing literacy and math skills for adults, encouraging school enrollment and attendance among children, especially girls, and by improving educational infrastructure.
• In natural resource management, HOPEFOR BURKINA FUTURES promotes agricultural sustainability through projects in soil and water conservation, reforestation, and improved agricultural practices.
• In peacebuilding, HOPE FOR BURKINA FUTURES promotes justice through peace and reconciliation programming.