World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

The Project Bas Fonds (PBF), or Lowlands Management Project, is a bilateral project between WFP and the Government of Japan that helps communities reclaim unused land in order to increase rice production in rural communities. With their increased earnings from the PBF, women can now afford to send their children to school and to provide health care for them.

Under the PBF, which began in 2006, beneficiaries undertake land reclamation and rice production through Food for Work activities.

In Ouidi Wafe, the PBF allowed beneficiaries to reclaim 20 hectares of land that were previously unused.

The PBF also provides benefiaries with courses in reading, writing, arithmetic, hygiene and sexual health.

Improving literacy is an essential component of ensuring that beneficiaries can continue their rice production activities in the future.

After five years, the PBF has reached 20,000 beneficiaries in 40 different sites in Burkina Faso.