Since 2022, Acted, with funding from USAID, has been supporting vulnerable populations in Burkina Faso by improving their access to livelihoods through the project ‘Fighting food insecurity and supporting vulnerable populations affected by conflict within and outside formal and informal displacement contexts’, supporting sustainable initiatives and activities in the North, East and Boucle du Mouhoun regions.
Since 2019, the East region, like other regions of Burkina Faso, has been affected by incursions by unorganised armed groups, causing people to move to safer areas. The needs of the displaced population are then added to those arising from the existing vulnerabilities of the host population, and when the displacement lasts, the population is confronted with economic difficulties to which sustainable subsistence solutions must be found. With this in mind, Acted has supported the vocational training of 40 young women and men in the commune of Fada N’Gourma. This was made possible through close collaboration between the Provincial Directorate in charge of Humanitarian Action and that in charge of vocational training.
After being selected through a call for applications, the participants received 5 days of training in entrepreneurship, life skills and financial management in March 2024. They were then placed in a training centre and trade apprenticeship workshop for 3 months (from April to June 2024) in the trades of cutting and sewing, metal joinery, hairdressing and dyeing and weaving. At the end of the training, each beneficiary received a certificate and a starter kit containing various materials related to their trade. Subsequently, 24 participants were able to set up on their own, 11 continued their training to perfect their skills further, and 5 others are looking for premises to set up in.
In addition to developing their skills and creating new livelihoods, this programme helps create solidarity networks.Internally displaced women from Batiébougou met as part of Acted’s vocational training support. They attended the same Nephtalis Style cutting and sewing training centre, and a natural affinity developed.
After 3 months of training in cut and sew, she became a trainer and model for her fellow students.
After her training, LOMPO Potiaga set up her own business and her fellow students, DADJOARI Pobindo and LANKOANDE Pognouagou, joined her workshop to improve their skills. Today, thanks to her cutting and sewing business, LOMPO Potiaga supports her colleagues and earns a monthly income of nearly 60,000 CFA francs (around 74 euros).
My name is LOMPO Potiaga, and I come from Tikoudiga, a farming hamlet (a small group of houses outside the core of a rural commune) in the village of Pognoa Sankoaro in the commune of Kompienga. In October 2021, we left our village following incursions by unorganised armed groups summoning everyone to move out within 24 hours or face reprisals. We saw our granaries and other possessions go up in flames within minutes of their arrival. To be on the safe side, my husband and I decided to come to Fada. Without taking anything with us, we arrived in Fada and life was difficult, especially with our children. In the village, we farmed and raised livestock. Personally, I had long nurtured the desire to learn the trade of cutting and sewing and one day become a professional in the field. During the first two years in Fada, given my situation as an Internally Displaced Person, the idea kept popping into my head, but I didn’t have the means to pay the training fees. So I asked to be an apprentice in a sewing workshop. I was torn between trying to find the day-to-day means to help my family and follow my passion, and looking for a more permanent income. That’s how we learned that the NGO Acted was carrying out a community registration of people interested in trades and income-generating activities (IGAs). You can’t imagine how happy I was the day Acted called to confirm that I had been selected after the process to receive training in tailoring at Nephtalis Style. I’m grateful because I’ve also received training in entrepreneurship, life skills and financial management, and I’ve been awarded a certificate. At the end of my training, I was given an installation kit and a business plan. Today, I’m set up in my own workshop thanks to the help of Acted. During our placement in the training centre, Acted supported us with the sum of 5,000 CFA francs a day for our fuel and food needs. I had the idea of saving a little on this sum by going to a fabric and sewing accessory supplier each time to buy materials. That’s how, at the end of my training, I was able to acquire a substantial amount of material so that I could carry out my clothing orders without pressure and with a greater profit margin. Today, I make models for men and women. On average, I make between 10,000 and 15,000 CFA francs a week. This has enabled me to improve my family’s living conditions and support my husband in managing our daily expenses by paying for my children’s schooling and my little sister who had dropped out of school.
I’m currently training 2 friends who have also taken the Nephtalis Style course. As well as our work, we give each other advice to help our respective families flourish. I hope that one day Acted will entrust me with other interns so that I can pass on to them the knowledge I’ve acquired and share with them the tips and tricks they need to get their workshop up and running quickly, as I’ve been lucky enough to do.
I would like to thank Acted and the Direction Régionale de la Jeunesse de la Formation Professionnelle et de l’Emploi (DRJFPE) for their support. I would also like to thank Nephtalis Style for sharing their knowledge with us. Thanks also to the Joint Community Committees (CCM) of ZAD 4 who informed me of this opportunity. Thank you to my family who supported me when it was difficult.
Hope for resilience through mentoring between beneficiaries
I’m LANKOANDE Pognouagou, originally from Diapangou, and I’ve been living in Fada for over 5 years. My family decided to move to Fada after hearing threats of destruction of our village by unorganised armed groups. Once we arrived in Fada, we found day jobs to earn a living, and sometimes we earned nothing to support the family. It was during Acted’s community registration for targeting that I thought about a trade and my choice fell on tailoring because it is profitable and I admire those who do this work. Acted selected me for the training and it went well. After the 3 months of training, DADJOARI Pobindo and I asked LOMPO Potiaga to help us learn more because she had a good level from the training centre and thanks to the installation kit we received we could continue our training with her. Today, with her commitment and advice, we hope to be able to set up our own business one day. I’d like to thank Acted, Nephtalis Style and, above all, our colleague LOMPO Potiaga for agreeing to let us into his workshop.
Double capacity-building, thanks to the support of Acted
‘I am DADJOARI Pobindo from the commune of Batiébougou in the province of Komondiari/Gayéri. In December 2022, unorganised armed groups forced us to leave our village within 72 hours. We chose to come to Fada for greater safety. I’ve been interested in cutting and sewing since I was a teenager. I have friends who had the opportunity, when we were in Gayeri, to train and who earned a better living. Thanks to Acted, I was able to take part in a 3-month training course in tailoring. The learning period was intensive and at the end I found that I still needed to perfect my skills before setting up my own business. In our team, we were lucky enough to have a friend who had a little experience in the trade before we entered the training centre, so we decided to continue our training with our friend LOMPO Potiaga.
Today we work together in her workshop. She teaches us a lot. I sew clothes for my children, but also for other people, which allows me to generate an income to look after my family. The best thing here is that we can take orders and make them ourselves, while benefiting from LOMPO Potiaga’s advice. So in 2 weeks I can have an income of 5,000 Fcfa. This has helped me to pay for my children’s schooling and to look after them when they are ill. In the future, I want to open my own workshop and be independent. I’d like to thank Nephtalis Style for introducing us to sewing and for taking the time to teach us good sewing practices. TUONTUONLI!
‘N TUONDI ACTED LIIGI YAABA LENI O PUOLIHUANI KI TAANI LENI TODIKAABA’ which means “I thank Acted and its partners”.
As part of its efforts to improve access to means of subsistence for vulnerable people, Acted has supported 40 beneficiaries in vocational training and direct apprenticeships. A total of 38 women and 2 men have benefited from vocational training, and after 3 months of training almost 60% have already set up their own businesses. These women are improving their living conditions and those of their families thanks to the income they earn from their vocation. They support their families by sending their children to school and buying essential products for their daily needs. After their forced displacement in the commune of Fada, they will be able to continue their activities when they return to their locality of origin.
The names of the beneficiaries have been changed to protect their identities.
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