Burkina Faso: the true spirit of co-development

In Reggio Emilia, the migrant inclusion is enhanced through projects for development cooperation with countries of origin. Creating thousands of workplace for the agricultural development and the fight against the food insecurity in Burkina Faso is not just a dream anymore thanks to the engagement of Reggio residents from this country and their capacities to do networking. In July, the association of people from Burkina Faso of Reggio Emilia and Emilia-Romagna (Abreer) signed at the town hall of Reggio Emilia an agreement with the Government of Burkina Faso, represented by Raymond Balima, Ambassador of Burkina Faso in Italy, and Emilian companies. “Italy and Reggio Emilia have good relations with the burkinabé community, they foster each other – said Serena Foracchia, Council Member of the City of Reggio Emilia in charge of international and intercultural relations – Citizens with foreign origins have relevant skills, they keep their eyes open to the world and are able to make a difference for the development of the city they are living in and of the country of origin. This is a view that redefines the idea of international co-operation and, along with the project of the association of people from Burkina Faso, it would important to involve other communities and countries”. The project goal is to transfer technologies and competence to the African country in order to install production plants to assemble machines, as well as structures and services to sell the goods. The idea was born following within the association of people from Burkina Faso living in Reggio. “Some of us lost our jobs because of the crisis, so we decided to invest our time to learn something for the future – says the president of the association, Seni Bandaogo – We collected some money among ourselves to organise training in organic agriculture for burkinabé living in Reggio, to see if it was possible to take advantage of these skills here in Italy and in Burkina Faso”.