As part of the implementation of the Socioeconomic Development Program for Onchocerciasis free cross-border areas, ECOWAS, in collaboration with The Hunger Project, launched on 20 June 2018 in the village of Barré in Burkina Faso, the construction of 8 boreholes for the benefit of 8 cross-border villages of Burkina Faso and Ghana. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to improving the food and nutrition situation of very poor households while laying the foundation for sustainable socio-economic development.

This project will allow the construction of boreholes equipped with solar energy pumps and the development of 4 hectares of irrigated perimeters with 0.5 ha per drilling site for market gardening crops. It will also promote the establishment of 4 cross-border groups for the exploitation of market gardening sites. Four (04) cross-border infrastructure management committees, composed of 10 members per committee, 5 from each village, will be set up to facilitate good management of the infrastructures.

The launching ceremony was co-chaired by the High Commissioner of the Nahouri Province of Burkina Faso and the Regional Minister of the Upper East Region of Ghana. Both authorities of Burkina Faso and Ghana adhered to ECOWAS actions in the sense that they really meet the needs of the beneficiary populations.

For the village chief of Féo, the technology of boreholes with solar energy pumps is an innovation that comes to solve the energy problem for agricultural exploitation. He hopes that such actions will be extended to other villages that have also been victims of onchocerciasis. Indeed, in addition to its objective of improving the living conditions of the populations, this pilot project plays an integrating role for the communities of Burkina Faso and Ghana. It will be implemented by The Hunger Project over a period of 8 months.