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Project Visit Report 2025

A team from ÖJAB visited their development cooperation projects in Burkina Faso

In late 2025, Dr. Kiswend-sida Mikhaïlou Dera, head of ÖJAB’s development cooperation, visited ÖJAB’s development cooperation projects in Burkina Faso. The visit’s purpose was to evaluate ÖJAB’s ongoing projects, and explore new initiatives with new potential partners. The visit was conducted in concert with the NGO GRAD-A, which acts as ÖJAB’s local representation in Burkina Faso.

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ÖJAB in Burkina Faso

ÖJAB’s WASH projects continue to improve rural sanitation

ÖJAB’s longest-running projects Together – Clean – Healthy in Samba and Hygiene is Health in Doulougou improve the sanitary conditions in rural communes in Burkina Faso. Namely, ÖJAB and their partner organisation GRAD-A build compost latrines including hand-washing facilities for poverty-stricken families with many children and offer hygiene training programs.

In Samba, located in the Yaadga region (until 2025: Nord), the ÖJAB team visited the commune’s mayor, hygiene officer, and other stakeholders. Together, they inspected the ten new latrines built in 2025 and listened to the beneficiaries’ testimonies, how the latrines improved their lives. ÖJAB’s and GRAD-A’s work in Samba is assisted and partly conducted with the local association Laafi Zaka, who organises sanitation activities in the commune.

Similar to the project in Samba, ÖJAB and GRAD-A visited beneficiaries and stakeholders, including the local hygiene action group Yiligmde la Laafi, in Doulougou in Burkina Faso’s Kadiogo region (until 2025: Centre). After observing improvements in the construction quality of the latrines in the previous year, the team was happy to observe a significant improvement in the hygiene trainings and hygiene conditions among beneficiaries in Doulougou. This improvement can largely be credited to the efforts of local partners. Additionally, ÖJAB constructed five new latrines in 2025.

  • A simple beehive made of light-colored wood stands elevated on a metal frame in a dry, bushy landscape. It is surrounded by trees and shrubs, some with withered leaves. The scene shows beekeeping in a natural, rural environment.The ÖJAB-GRAD-A team and local authorities inspect a newly-built latrine in Samba.
  • A person is standing in front of a small, freestanding building with a blue door bearing the number 43 and marked with ÖJAB's logo. Next to the entrance there is a simple handwashing facility. In the background, trees, mud-brick houses, and people sitting in the shade can be seen, representing a typical rural village setting.A beneficiary posing in front of his family’s new latrine.

First breeding success in “One Woman – One Farm”

ÖJAB’s project One Woman – One Farm in the rural commune of Komsilga in Kadiogo region, empowers women and helps them gain financial independence. Dr. Dera’s team was happy to see good progress after initial delays occurred during the selection of a suitable commune. In the project, 60 women, including 30 especially vulnerable internally displaced women, received “starter kits” consisting of one male and three female goats and animal feed to help start their own animal farm. At the end of the project, beneficiaries will select some of these goats and pass them on to other women as part of new starter kits to create a positive ripple effect. ÖJAB’s project partner EMESA, a local veterinary school, conducts accompanying trainings in animal care and regularly monitors the goats’ condition. The project “One Woman – One Farm” is made possible by the financial support of the City of Vienna.

During their visit, ÖJAB’s team connected with beneficiaries and local administrators, who showed great enthusiasm for the project and thanked ÖJAB and their project partners for their support. At the time of the visit, most goats already gave birth or were pregnant, setting the cornerstone for the further positive development of the project.

  • Two people are in a rural setting and are taking care of several goats that are tied with ropes and eating from containers. One person is holding a wooden stick and supervising the animals, while another person stands in the background. Around them are simple everyday objects, dry ground, and residential buildings, illustrating livestock keeping in daily village life.A beneficiary from the project “One Woman – One Farm” is tending to her goats.
  • An adult woman is holding a small goat kid in their arms while carrying a toddler on their back. She is standing in front of a simple building with a mud wall and is smiling while looking to the side. In the foreground and background, more goats can be seen moving freely around the yard. The scene conveys the everyday life of a family engaged in animal husbandry in a rural setting.ÖJAB’s goat breeding project is seeing success: an internally displaced woman and project beneficiary proudly holds a goat kid.
  • An adult goat is standing on dry ground while a young goat is nursing underneath it. The goat is wearing an ear tag and is looking to the side. In the surroundings, simple everyday items such as pots, canisters, and car tires can be seen, with a sparse rural settlement in the background. The scene illustrates animal husbandry as part of daily life in a village setting.A marked goat and her kid.

Fruitful new cooperation with vocational training centres

Vocational training has been a centrepiece of ÖJAB’s development cooperation in Burkina Faso since its inception in the 1960s. After identifying promising partner schools in their last monitoring visit to Burkina Faso, ÖJAB started the new project Crafting Futures in early 2025. ÖJAB offers support with logistical costs and annually contributes to schooling costs of 30 young trainees in need in the two vocational training centres CFPP/Vénégré and Centre de Formation Professionnelle Sainte Louise (CFP - SL). Both centres are located in Burkina Faso’s capital city Ouagadougou in the region of Kadiogo and provide courses in trades that are in high demand on Burkina Faso’s job market, such as plumbing, building electricity, and food processing.

The ÖJAB team visited the centres’ facilities and evaluated current challenges and possibilities on further improving the training courses’ quality together with the schools’ principals. Independent interviews with the students on their perspective completed this evaluation. A first review of this project showed very satisfactory results: 95% of the sponsored trainees successfully passed their CQP graduation exam (French: Certificat de Qualification Professionnelle). Furthermore, the two training centres used this project to network and exchange their experiences and expertise to improve their work.

  • In a small salon, a young woman is carefully tending to the foot of a seated client. Two other people are standing nearby and observing the process. Care products and work materials are laid out on a table, and mirrors as well as sample images of cosmetic and nail designs hang on the wall. The scene depicts hands-on service work and learning as part of everyday professional life in a simple indoor setting.An ÖJAB-sponsored student from CFP - Sainte Louise practices as part of her training as a beautician.
  • In an indoor setting, a young woman is standing in front of a table and speaking to a small group of seated people. On the table, numerous jars containing preserved products as well as bottles of beverages are neatly arranged. The surrounding people are listening attentively.An ÖJAB-sponsored trainee from a food-processing class in CFP - Sainte Louise tells about her training.
  • A group of young people and adults are standing together in front of an entrance gate and looking at the camera. Several individuals are wearing orange shirts or blue work coats; some are holding safety helmets or wearing them on their heads. In the center, a banner with the ÖJAB logo is being held. The scene conveys teamwork and collective engagement within a training or vocational context.CFPP/Vénégré’s headmaster, ÖJAB-sponsored trainees and members from ÖJAB’s team pose in front of the school gate.

Expanding sustainable beekeeping to increase incomes

After a very promising start of the apiary project Tomorrow’s Honey in the commune of Pabré in the Kadiogo region, ÖJAB expanded the concept to a larger project. This new project named Bees for Better Chances takes place in the rural commune of Kourinion in the Guiriko region (until 2025: Hauts-Bassins) in western Burkina Faso. These projects’ goal is to both increase incomes of rural households as well as improve biodiversity by maintaining healthy bee colonies in the area. To these ends, ÖJAB and their local partner organisation Agrovetapic introduce beekeepers to modern beekeeping equipment and production methods, that yield more honey of higher quality and allow for less invasive monitoring and harvesting. Furthermore, they help with sales and Agrovetapic provides training sessions and assistance with monitoring the modern beehives. The project “Bees for Better Chances” is made possible by the financial support of the City of Vienna.

First results showed, that the beekeepers in Pabré were able to harvest three times more honey than compared to using traditional methods. Thus, the project was received very well by the beneficiaries and other local stakeholders. However, there is still room for improvement in more effective sales strategies.

In Kourinion, ÖJAB’s team monitored the installation of 100 new beehives and preparation for the bee colonies, and attended a training lesson held by experts from Agrovetapic for the beneficiaries. One major difference to the pilot project is the stronger focus on women and young people. The aim is to offer these groups more financial independence, due to their disadvantaged status in traditional societies in rural Burkina Faso.

  • Two women are working outdoors on a modern wooden beehive. One of the women is looking toward the camera, while the other is standing sideways and carrying a small child on her back in a colorful wrap. In the background, a dry landscape typical of Burkina Faso can be seen, along with other participants.Two beekeepers from set up the new beehives.
  • A group of adults is standing outdoors on dry ground among bushes and trees, jointly discussing beekeeping work. Several people are holding wooden frames with combs in their hands; an open beehive box lies on the ground. One person is carrying a child on their back. The group appears focused and engaged in exchanging views about working with the bees.Begünstigte Imker:innen des Projekts „Bienen schaffen Zukunft“ beim Aufbau der Bienenstöcke im Feld.
  • A Burkinabe man is standing in a simple training room and giving a lecture. He is pointing to a presentation projected onto the wall showing images of beehives, while several participants, including women wearing head coverings, are seated on benches and listening. In front of him is a table with a laptop and a projector; the earthen wall of the room and the plain furnishings emphasize the practical, hands-on educational setting of the beekeeping project.Ein Experte von Agrovetapic hält für die Begünstigten einen Vortrag über moderne Imkereimethoden.
  • A simple beehive made of light-colored wood stands elevated on a metal frame in a dry, bushy landscape. It is surrounded by trees and shrubs, some with withered leaves. The scene shows beekeeping in a natural, rural environment.A colonised beehive in Pabré.

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  • Funded by the City of Vienna