Social Enterprise: Bakery – Burkina Faso

Food Security through the introduction of bread

Context

Until recently, bread was no common food in the rural areas of Burkina Faso. Owing to decentralisation of government bodies from Ouagadougou – where bread is fully assimilated– many public officials have settled in the province. This has resulted in a demand for bread, yet there are no bakeries in the whole of the Banwa province. Bread is an important food diversification element, which can also be produced in times of food shortage (April through October). 

Initiative

This initiative supports the building, furnishing and the start-up expenses of a bakery. The bread baking expertise is provided by a French organisation, which sends a retired baker to Solenzo to transfer his professional skills and knowledge. Lessons learned from an earlier bakery project in Nouna will be implemented in Solenzo. Since this will be the only bakery in the vicinity, it is expected to be profitable on a very short term. 

Impact

The aim is to increase food security with a constituent (bread) which is new to this area. In addition, employment, entrepreneurship and self-reliance will be stimulated. Since bread requires a new type of resource (grain), this initiative also fosters agricultural diversification. All profits of this social enterprise will be deployed for humanitarian development projects in the areas of food security, health care and education.