At the end of September 2019, the town of Ziniaré, in the central plateau region of Burkina Faso, held the first session of its Community Consultation framework (CCCo).

This meeting was made possible thanks to the support of the Coordination Nationale de l’Initiative de la Grande Muraille Verte pour le Sahara et le Sahel (CN-IGMVSS - National Coordination of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative) through its Capacity-Building Programme supported by the APEFE and WBI. The discussions concerned ‘Promoting social cohesion, guarantee for mutually supportive development’. During the session, a presentation was made by the IGMVSS and its partners.

The CCCo are places for discussion and coordination of interventions between the town and other participants who are involved in them. They are laid down in the applicable laws as an obligation for the communities. As part of the opening ceremony for the Ziniaré meeting, it was Pascal COMPAORE, the mayor, who took the floor to explain that many woes were hindering the values of social cohesion in the township. This is why, he believes “we must work together, as it is our duty to preserve all these solidarity values”. He also made a point of sincerely thanking all the partners who have supported holding this meeting, including the CN-IGMVSS and the APEFE.

The first communication given was the IGNVSS presentation, made by the Monitoring-Evaluation Manager of the Regional Management responsible for the Central Plateau environment, Cheick I. TRAORE. He reviewed the history, activities, skills, and challenges to be faced, among other things. Following him, the ATN Communication of the APEFE with the CN-IGMVSS spoke, to make the connection between rehabilitation and sustainable management of land, and the subject ‘Promoting social cohesion, guarantee for mutually supportive development’.

He thus explained that the effects of climate change and desertification were hindering social cohesion due, among other things, to:

• Conflicts between farmers and livestock breeders due to the decrease in grazing land and crop land,
• Climate migrations with social conflicts in the new settlement areas,
• The weak development for a country in which the economy is based on agriculture, leading to an increase on the social front with various claims.

By making rehabilitation of degraded land and its sustainable use its personal mission, the IGMVSS and its partners, including the APEFE, are contributing to strengthening the resilience of populations by developing income-generating activities (exploitation of non-timber products, among others). The increase of grazing land and fertile soils enables the conflicts between farmers and livestock breeders to be countered and reinforces peace and social cohesion. As a result, populations stay on their land with no intention of migrating to more fertile areas.

During the discussion, all parties stressed the procedure of partnership or collaboration with the Great Green Wall.

The Coordination Nationale de l’Initiative de la Grande Muraille Verte pour le Sahara et le Sahel (National Coordination of the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative) programme is a programme financed by the Belgian Development Cooperation.