Burkina Faso On Est Ensemble Year One Workplan

The program, implemented by Chemonics International Inc., seeks to support sustainable livelihoods and broad-based resilience to social, economic, and environmental shocks. OEE focuses on building social cohesion and mutual understanding between farmers and herders through people-to-people (P2P) programming, including dialogues, intercultural events, and small-scale community and microenterprise projects. The program's approach is grounded in conflict analysis and theory of change. The conflict analysis identifies three core issues that increase the risk of violent farmer-herder conflicts: increased competition over resources, limited capacity and financial resources of organizations and government institutions, and limited engagement between communities and local government. The theory of change posits that if mutual understanding and appreciation of shared challenges improve between Fulani herder and Mossi farmer communities, and interactions based on common interests increase, then conditions to improve social cohesion and enable peaceful sharing of livelihood resources will form between farmers and herders. OEE's approach seeks to encourage greater P2P interactions between herder and farmer communities by boosting recognition of their common values and shared economic interests. The program will involve local formal and informal mechanisms to effectively resolve farmer-herder disputes and will work with civil society organizations, traditional and religious leaders, village development councils, cooperatives, and farmers' associations to implement interventions that support sustainable conflict resolution processes among target communities. Interventions will promote social cohesion and mutual understanding between farmers and herders through dialogue sessions, intercultural events, conflict resolution training, and small-scale community development projects. The net effect of these activities will foster greater social and economic interconnectedness and build resiliency to inter-community violence. The program will also create an enabling environment for positive community development among youth members of the farmer and herder communities to provide valuable input into community conflict mediation processes. The OEE program will be implemented in collaboration with local partners, including Association pour la Promotion de l'Elevage au Sahel et en Savane (APESS), Association Burkinabé d'Action Communautaire (ABAC), and Association Racines (Racines). The program will also work with other implementing partners and will join the twice-monthly USAID Burkina Faso Office's democracy and governance meetings to facilitate knowledge sharing among donor programs, civil society organizations, and local institutions. The Community Development Fund (CDF) will be used to explore ways to promote co-existence of staple crop/market gardening cultivation and livestock-raising livelihood practices to strengthen community resilience. The program will also work along the "understand-appreciate-collaborate-prefer to peacefully resolve" continuum of healthy relationships to reduce the likelihood of violence between groups and foster community development. The program's objectives include strengthening social and economic ties between farmers and herders, increasing conflict management and mitigation capacity of individual and institutional actors, and promoting social cohesion and mutual understanding between farmers and herders. The program will also work to create an enabling environment for positive community development among youth members of the farmer and herder communities.