Sesame
We exported 432 tonnes of organic and Fairtrade sesame seeds during 2019. Most of these seeds go to Europe's leading organic oil mill, Bio Planète, as well as to other important customers in the sesame industry. We share a common vision of organic farming and have been 100% organic and Fairtrade since the beginning of our respective businesses.
Over the years, the marketing of sesame seeds has become an essential source of income for Burkinabe farmers. This cash crop requires little water and does not require the use of phytosanitary products. These characteristics make sesame production possible in the arid Sahelian zone of northern Burkina Faso, a region dominated by livestock farming and the marketing of live animals to neighbouring countries.
Burkinature SARL's sesame sector has been developed in partnership with producers in the north of the country. We are connected to more than 2500 producers. Approximately 100 are from the Loroum province, 150 producers from Bam, 200 respectively 500 in the Yatenga and Yagha provinces and finally more than 1500 producers in the Soum province where we act in partnership with SERACOM. SERACOM is a support service for the economic development of producers in the province of Soum in Burkina Faso, set up by CIDR in 1988.
SERACOM is a major player in the rural economy in this region of Burkina. They spearhead many projects directly related to livestock marketing, village poultry production and the cultivation of chilli and organic sesame. They also play a major role in the supply of cereals to the villages in the region and therefore have a large area of intervention.
SERACOM's latest project aims to strengthen the monitoring and endogenous support system for organic sesame producers and to promote an agro-ecology farm school in which women will play a central role. This project, which will be led by Mr Dao Alpha Ousmane and his SERACOM partners if support is obtained from the Contractual Agriculture Fund, will involve Burkinature and Sesame Net, the structure responsible for cleaning and packaging sesame seeds.
Since the beginning of the security crisis in 2015, the North of Burkina has become the target of terrorist attacks that continue to destabilise the entire area, making life particularly difficult for villagers and seriously hampering the economic development of a region with great potential.
Many actors have left the area because of the security problems.
On the other hand, Burkinature SARL has been able to maintain its activities with SERACOM and the other producer groups in the area, largely thanks to the support of its clients and certification bodies, which are very involved in the search for sustainable solutions to the problems linked to the marketing of sesame in an area where travel is difficult.
