The agri-agencies Afdi, Fert and Trias, but also Burkinabe agencies CORADE and APME2A, met in Ouagadougou Saturday, March 12, 2016 to discuss the issue of training of peasant leaders. A meeting which allowed to share what had already been achieved and by each other, but especially to consider future collaborations on the subject.

This meeting of organizations active in the field of agricultural development in Burkina Faso aimed to share experiences and reflections of each on the theme of the training of peasant leaders but also to identify possible operational synergies on this theme. Thus, each organization was able to present her activities in the field of training of peasant leaders, which generated a rich exchange.

We note that:

  • whether some structures present have already built approaches and tools, others are still in the experimentation when others have no formal steps in the matter. This is for all formations, but also post-training follow, even for some coaching;
  • if audiences are varied – producer organizations, entrepreneurs, artisans, politicians… – approaches themselves differ: when some are based on the course (past – present – future) of the individual, others rather leave from leadership of the PO, the group;
  • discovering these different approaches to the training of rural leaders, these structures were able to discuss their vision of the “leader”, the conditions for the emergence, or the skills to develop and cultural dimension to consider on this topic.
Proposals have been raised and ideas have been born of this first exchange. A new meeting will take place in a few months. This will further explore the “Leatra” approach (Leadership Trajectory) developed by the Belgian agri- agency Triassic, but also continue the discussion on the definition of a leader based on a bibliographic work. A training manual could emerge, to build with producer organizations interested in this approach, to reflect on the kind of leader you want in a PO. A reflection that also questions the support offered by the organizations present at the meeting with Burkinabe producers.