West Africa
Our actions in West Africa are co-financed by the Belgian Survial Fund (BSF)
Burkina Faso
Islands of Peace's Burkina Faso involvement concentrates on the eastern part of the country. From Fada n'Gourma where we are based, we currently accompany the developpement process of two communities : Yamba and Tensobentenga. Besides direct involvement in these communities and the reinforcement of their capacities, Islands of Peace also has a larger action with peasant organisations of the region which aims at the dynamisation of experiences exchange between these organisations and at the capitalisation of their experiences.
In the rural village of Yamba, Islands of Peace contributes to the population's efforts to gain better acces to water for human consumption, for livestock and for agriculture. In late 2002, we started the building of a dam and irrigated perimeters for gardening and rice production. At the same time, we support local initiatives in the field of access to water, improvement of agricultural and husbandry techniques and environmental protection.
In the area of Tensobentenga, we are active in the fields of the dynamisation of the rural economy and the sustainable use of the natural resources. This takes the form of support to local and individual initiatives such as water management, rotating credit funds, agricultural equipement, ...
Bénin
In Toucountouna, a village of the North of Bénin, specialised in the production of cotton, a local organisation asked us to help them in the diversification of production. Cotton production is so attractive to farmers that the production of cereals is very low. Unfortunately, cotton payments only occur at the end of the agricultural season, when cereal prices are at their highest levels. It's paradoxal to observe that in this region where almost anything grows, people suffer from hunger.
With our partner organisation, we try to improve the attractivity of cereals like maize and to setup protection mechanisms such as cereal banks and security stocks.
Other actions include water management and improvement of socio-economic infrastructures.
Latin America
Ecuador
Islands of Peace has been active in Ecuador since 1995, first in the region of Pangor, close to Riobamba on the Panamerican road, and now, in most of the Andes region of the country. The challenge of this area consists in the achievement of a balance between ecological preservation and economic development
Our action combines training in the fields of agriculture, husbandry and management and better acces to credit. The originality of the training is that the local technicians that are formed turn into trainers themselves for their communities or other communities, which enables us to demultiplicate our impact.
Other actions include the improvement of communication infrastructure, water management and the reinforcement of the cultural identity.
Bolivia
Active in Bolivia since 2000, Islands of Peace develops the same kind of successful recipe as in Ecuador in rural areas of the country such as Sacaca (north of the Potosi province)
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