The project combined poverty reduction, ecological transition and the empowerment of women and young people, achieving a remarkable implementation rate of 95 percent.
It has revitalised the cashew nut industry, Burkina Faso’s third largest agricultural export after cotton and sesame.
Launched in 2017 and completed in 2024, the Cashew Development Support Project in the Comoé Basin for REDD+ (PADA/REDD+) exemplified sustainable development.
The PADA/REDD+ project received support from the African Development Bank, which granted a loan of USD 4 million.
The African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional funding window, topped with a grant of USD 1.39 million, representing 61 percent of the total project cost of USD 8.82 million.
The government of Burkina Faso and the beneficiaries provided the remaining funding.
The project mobilised the necessary resources to contribute to the sustainable transformation of the Cascades, Hauts Bassins and South-West regions, with significant participation from women.
It enabled producers to reduce maintenance costs, improve soil fertility and structure, and increase cashew productivity and incomes in a sustainable manner.
Climate action combined with agricultural production
The first component of the PADA/REDD+ focused on carbon sequestration.
This resulted in the creation of seven tree parks, the production of more than 1.6 million improved seedlings and the development of approximately 27,000 hectares of agroforestry plantations. One-third of these plantations are maintained by women, underlining the project’s commitment to promoting social inclusion.
A total of 35,340 producers, including 6,047 women, were trained in good agricultural and organic practices.
This capacity-building approach for producers and processors equipped each stakeholder with the skills required to meet their needs and expectations, particularly in mastering technical production and processing methods.
Access to finance and modernization of processing
The second component of the project focused on strengthening value chains. Long hampered by limited access to finance, the sector’s development has benefited from an innovative partnership with the umbrella organisation of Burkina Faso’s Caisses populaires banks, alongside savings and loan cooperatives.
This mechanism enabled investment loans to be granted based on a sliding scale of interest rates, financing 103 micro-projects for a total of 888 million CFA francs, or approximately USD 500,000. The project also created 9,580 additional “green” jobs, 92.66 percent of which were for women, by financing micro-investment projects.
Thanks to the funding provided, seven processing units were modernised. A new unit called “Tensya” was established in the commune of Toussiana, and three warehouses were built, one of which is reserved for women.
The project also enabled the purchase of 12 trucks and 45 tricycles, training in good practices for 631 people, strengthening the environmental skills of 477 stakeholders, and the construction and equipping of infrastructure such as a cooking and shelling centre for women in Diéri, entirely subsidised by the African Development Bank.
These micro-projects reached nearly 18,000 people, 61 percent of whom were women, further strengthening the inclusive approach of PADA/REDD+.