Public-Private Partnership on Sesame in Burkina Faso
ICCO starts a project on boosting sustainable sesame and beekeeping value chains in Burkina Faso. Danida, the Danish Development Agency, approved a proposal by ICCO and its partners.
Public-private partnership
In the new project, ICCO will work together with Olvea, a French company which operates in cosmetic and agribusiness for oils. ICCO started cooperating with Olvea back in 2010, to develop sustainable value chains in shea. Since then ICCO and Olvea have been working together in several public private partnership to support local producers.
Another important partner in this new project will be Afrique Verte, an organization that is strong in developing producer organizations.
Sesame and apiculture
The project focuses on the sesame and beekeeping value chains. Sesame is an important cash crop for smallholder farmers with a very strong market demand. It can be grown on less fertile lands, making it a relatively low risk crop. Beekeeping equally provides a solid supplementary income to rural smallholders, with relatively little time investment. Additionally, beekeeping has environmental benefits as bees help in the pollination and therefore fructification of trees.
Smallholder farmers and value chains
The project will secure traceability in the value chains. In this way it is possible to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers, and so creating sustainable livelihoods. The project will support 12,500 smallholders, a number which is expected to increase further after the project ends as smallholders can improve the quality and quantity of their production through introduction of systemic chain improvements.
Danida Market Development Partnerships
The proposal is funded by Danida Market Development Partnerships, a fund of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs which contributes to sustainable market development that promotes the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Focusing on SDG 8 the main objective is to promote sustainable local economic growth and employment in developing countries. The Partnerships programme features an innovative approach to involvement of the business sector and contributes to motivating and mobilizing investments from the private sector.