Diofior, Jan 15 (APS) – A delegation of Burundian civil servants on mission to Senegal to draw inspiration from the experience of the Emergency Community Development Program (PUDC) went on Tuesday to Diofior, in the region of Fatick, to visit a local cereal processing unit managed by a group made up of nearly 150 women.
The PUDC supported the women’s group of Darou, a district of Diofior, in the establishment of this processing unit, almost 10 years ago.
»You have shown us your dedication and commitment. This platform has become an example, and that is why our Burundian hosts came to visit it to draw inspiration from it,” declared Cheikh Diop, the national coordinator of the PUDC.
The transformation unit was built for a total cost of 162 million 912 thousand 921 FCFA. Made up of a space for processing the raw material before its transformation, the unit also has a rest area, a hygiene block, a shelter for the millet thresher and a layout pedestrian paths.
The national coordinator of the PUDC praised the work of these “brave women”. “We have followed you step by step and we are not going to stop there,” he assured them.
The head of the Burundian delegation said he was ”dazzled” by this achievement ”entrusted only to women”. ”We saw with our own eyes and I am dazzled by the way in which this activity is carried out with commitment and responsibility,” underlined Frédéric Nimubona, deputy chief of staff to the Prime Minister.
According to him, Burundi, which wants to develop its communes, considered that the “perfect” example in this area is Senegal.
”You are organized and I am sure that you will succeed and why not arrive at an automated processing unit,” he told the women of the Darou group.
He recalled that corn and cassava are among the most cultivated products in Burundi.
-”We are going to transpose, in Burundi, what we have just seen. We will think about it and work on it to put all this into practice,” promised Mr. Nimubona.
Ndeye Khady Diouf, member of the Darou women’s group and communications officer, explained that they have set up a savings bank. Their objective, according to her, is to “mesh” the entire region to reproduce this experience almost everywhere in the commune of Diofior and in the department of Fatick.
”Cereals are products of the area and we plan to have our own hectares to produce the raw material,” she said, praising ”the bravery and commitment” of the women in her neighborhood. .
Mariama Senghor, third deputy mayor of Diofior, hoped that this experience would be well understood and tested in Burundi.
Earlier in the day, the Burundian delegation participated in a working session with PUDC teams. The goal was to have practical answers about how the program works and is implemented.
The government of Senegal, with technical support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), launched the PUDC in 2015.
This program aims to improve rural populations’ access to basic social services through the establishment of socio-economic infrastructure, while promoting the involvement of local stakeholders in the economic and social development of their localities.
MFD/OID/SBS/SKS
