Nazinon: The Network for the Promotion and Empowerment of Rural Women (REPAFER), in collaboration with the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM), organized a significant workshop in Manga town hall, focusing on the adaptation and validation of training modules on gender-sensitive agricultural risk management for the benefit of rural women in Burkina Faso.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the workshop, held from January 20 to 21, 2026, gathered 68 participants, including women leaders from associations and agricultural cooperatives affiliated with REPAFER. The event welcomed young individuals involved in agricultural value chains, women's coordinating bodies, local authorities, technical agents from decentralized agricultural, environmental, family, and solidarity services, alongside strategic partners and special delegation representatives.
Technical Advisor Dieudonne Kabore, representing the Governor of the Nazinon region, highlighted the challenges faced by Burkina Faso due to climate change. Issues such as declining rainfall, frequent droughts, land degradation, and unstable agricultural commodity prices are affecting productivity and reducing rural household incomes. Kabore emphasized that rural women, who constitute over 60% of the agricultural workforce but have access to less than 20% of arable land, are disproportionately impacted.
The training modules, initially developed in 2024 in Fada N'Gourma by the Tibuabu Association in partnership with REPAFER, were adapted during the workshop to integrate gender, socio-cultural, security, and national agricultural and climate policy considerations. Executive Director of REPAFER, Mamounata Ki, stated that the workshop aimed to improve the climate and economic resilience of rural women by validating these gender-sensitive agricultural risk management modules. These modules will guide future training and advocacy efforts.
Mariam Balima, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Advisor for the SoilValues program, commended the modules' technical quality and relevance, suggesting they will significantly enhance the resilience of women producers.
The workshop covered five modules, which participants from eight regions of Burkina Faso collectively validated. They recommended national dissemination of these modules to foster a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agriculture.