Nuru Burkina Faso Hosts Inter-Cooperative Meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 15, 2026

Contact: Aïssetou Sawadago | info@iamnuru.org

OUGADOUGOU–On March 26, 2026, Nuru Burkina Faso brought together cooperative agribusiness leaders along with municipal and customary authorities from the South Central and Central Plateau Regions. The first event of its kind facilitated by Nuru Burkina Faso, this meeting explored avenues for capitalizing on recent successes in the agricultural sector, while also facilitating discussion among cooperatives and local officials to collectively work together to address challenges.

Event attendees included presidents of the special delegations of the three communes, the provincial directors of agriculture, cooperative leaders, Community Field Agents (CFAs), and other local authorities. The event took place over nearly five hours and focused on the collaboration necessary between agriculture sector leaders and local officials to drive local innovation, focusing on reproducible successes already achieved by local agribusinesses. Cooperative representatives shared stories of their achievements, offering learning opportunities for their fellow cooperatives.

Learning from Peer Leaders

As an example, representatives from the Pawelgboudou Cooperative shared about receiving and generating income from two tricycles provided by Nuru Burkina Faso. Using these funds, members invested in a multi-functional mill (for parboiling and grinding) to meet a critical community need. The profits generated allowed them to recover all their expenses. Based on this success, they immediately acquired a second mill. As the cooperative continues to offer increasing benefits like these to its members, it successfully added 31 new members during the last general assembly.

Additionally, Wendpanga Cooperative representatives shared about using working capital, combined with processing training, to produce tofu. Some women from the cooperative are now able to process up to 25 kg of soybeans per week. “The effect is tangible,” explained a participant, “The generated income served as the basis for a first cohort of internal loans.”

As the cooperatives begin to thrive, they also offer examples of ways they’ve been able to support their communities, like through purchasing fencing for school gardens and providing aid to students. The most successful cooperatives share similar approaches to management based on unity, agreement, transparency, and attentiveness. The establishment of committees dedicated to resource management, like tricycles and mills, and the regular holding of clear assemblies of these leaders have supported cooperative effectiveness.

Collaborating to Find Solutions

The event also provided an opportunity to discuss shared challenges, including marketing, price volatility, and high input costs. Participants discussed a variety of solutions during the workshops, including securing markets before production, strengthening networks of traders, and focusing on local processing of both soybeans and peanuts to overcome the volatility of raw material prices. Additionally, there was a proposal to train seed producers within the cooperatives themselves to reduce input costs for cooperative members.

Building on Local Peer Learning and Collaboration

Nuru Burkina Faso will build on the momentum from this first inter-cooperative meeting, supporting cooperatives to be profitable, professional, and supportive of their communities’ economic potential. In the coming months, Nuru Burkina Faso will offer inter-cooperative training, seed producer training, and additional business trainings.

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About Nuru Burkina Faso:

Founded in 2022, Nuru Burkina Faso aims to build resilience in the South Central and Central Plateau Regions of Burkina Faso by strengthening farmer agribusinesses through the promotion of sustainable and inclusive approaches. Nuru Burkina Faso is a member of the Nuru Collective, a network of organizations with a shared vision of a world without cycles of unjust poverty, where resilience and hope are cultivated in the most marginalized communities. For more information about Nuru Burkina Faso, please visit Nuru Burkina Faso’s website.