The Community Resilience in Agroforestry (ResCom) project is implemented in Burkina Faso by a consortium of partners including the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the Rural Development Training Association (AFDR), and USCCPA, led by SNV. The four-and-a-half-year project is funded by the Embassy of Denmark in Burkina Faso totalling to DKK 75 million and ends in December 2025. The project is implemented in 12 communes with the overall objective of contributing to the development and strengthening of community resilience within agro-pastoral households, including that of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the Boucle du Mouhoun and North regions.

The North and Boucle du Mouhoun regions of Burkina Faso have a young rural population; over 77% of the population is under 35 years old. Yet these regions have enormous agro-sylvo-pastoral production potential. Nearly 90% of the population’s depend on agriculture, livestock, and the production of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as their main source of livelihood.

However, due to climate change and growing insecurity in these regions, many face a significant deterioration in their food security situation, which has led to massive population displacement. The deterioration of the security situation in both regions limits access to agricultural land, grazing areas and water points for herds, thus reducing transhumance movements. While the slowdown of economic activities in urban centres hosting large numbers of IDPs, coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to an increase in household vulnerability, and a decline in nutritional, food security and livelihood status.

The project will focus on meeting the immediate humanitarian needs of the population in the two intervention regions in Burkina Faso. The project therefore aims to contribute to the development and strengthening of community resilience within agropastoral households, including those of IDPs.

In its implementation trajectory, the ResCom project aims to achieve four outcomes:

• Increasing food and nutritional security of target communities and households,

• Restoring the livelihoods of resident populations and IDPs,

• Increasing the income of the population through the promotion of rural employment and market access, and

• Strengthening the social cohesion of target communities.

Objectives and target groups

• Reach 38,000 households, including IDPs

• Focus on women and youth populations

• Ensure food and nutrition security for at least 11,400 households

• Benefit 200,000 people, 50% women and 30% youth

• Support more than 25,000 IDPs and 6,000 host families