On May 16 and 17, 2019 Inades-Formation Burkina organized an activity to promote products and dishes based on « sovereignty food » in schools in the Boucle du Mouhoun region of Burkina Faso. The objective was to get students to know the products derived from sovereignty food and to consume the food that comes from it. In Dédougou and Nouna, where this activity took place, the students participated with enthusiasm and curiosity. About 200 students attended the event.
The activity to promote products and dishes based on « sovereignty food » involved the students of the Lycée Provincial and Lycée St Gabriel in Dédougou as well as those of the Collège Charles Lwanga in Nouna. Inades-Formation Burkina’s intervention in these schools was marked by a conference on the subject and a tasting session of local dishes. The conference was marked by a presentation phase on the notion of sovereignty food, the issues, the products, the dishes related to these foods. During the tasting phase, the students were led to consume various dishes prepared by processors supported by Inades-Formation Burkina in both localities.
Djamilatou OUATTARA, a student in 1st D class at the Charle Lwanga High School in Nouna, has this to say about this activity: « I really appreciate this initiative. It allowed me to know that local products can be used to prepare many dishes and it’s really fantastic ».
Présentation of sovereingty concept to students 
Tasting service for dishes based on sovereignty food
For the Inades-Formation network, « sovereignty food » is a food product of plant and animal origin, historically rooted in the eating habits of the populations of a given region, in commercial exchanges and in cultural practices. They are known for their resistance to climate change, their nutritional quality, their low dependence on synthetic inputs and their important role in boosting the local economy. These include millet, sorghum, cowpea (beans), fonio, local chicken.
In the schools in Dédougou and Nouna which they visited, Inades-Formation Burkina members talked to the students about dishes such as: pearl millet juice, pearl millet meatballs, millet couscous, fonio dêguê, fonio juice, fonio balls with bean leaves, cowpea biscuits (beans), etc. They also had the opportunity to consume these dishes at the tasting session. « I made a lot of discoveries about local food at this activity organized by Inades-Formation Burkina. Now I know the value of local food and I will prefer it to imported products. In addition, I will talk about it around me to get my family and friends to prepare and consume more local food, » says Nikiéma Yasmine, a 5th grade student at the Lycée Provincial de Dédougou.
The activity organized by Inades-Formation Burkina for students is part of the implementation of the Project to promote « sovereignty food » for sufficient, healthy and sustainable food for the people of Burkina Faso. This project financed by the German NGO MISEREOR is implemented by Inades-Formation Burkina in the Boucle du Mouhoun region. It is also implemented in 7 other countries of the Inades-Formation network. These countries are: Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Togo and Cameroon.
