The trip overall was fun to go on, although the conference in itself offered limited new information. Nevertheless, the opportunity to go to Burkina was great, despite remaining within a 10 block radius (including the airport). I also met a few Peace Corps volunteers from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Togo, Guinea, and Benin, although the majority of the conference was made up of practitioners (200 attendees total from over 20 countries). Hotel Pacific was nice, although I didn't have time to enjoy the pool. The conference went from 9am-6:30pm each day (with a morning tea break and lunch), excluding the morning hour of dedications starting at 8am, with presentations being translated from English to French or vise versa (I was impressed with my comprehension). The last evening everyone was presented a certificate which I can add to my collection (receiving certificates here are a really big deal and "proof" of education/knowledge/skills/etc).
The subjects presented on included the following: Challenges in Agriculture; Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR); Foundations for Farming; Organizing and Mobilizing Communities for Produce Marketing;Maximizing Economic Benefit of Farming; Natural Medicine for People & the Environment; Improving Crop Yields & Food Security by Using Soil & Water Conservation Techniques; Recent Developments in Vegetable Breeding: Promoting Vegetable Varieties for Nutrition & Income; Exploring the Health & Economic Benefits of Moringa; Conservation Agriculture: An Opportunity to Improve the Sustainability of Family Farms; Ignored Crops that Can Change Sahelian Agriculture.
In the evenings with other volunteers, we went to dinner and Caitlin and I found a great leather worker at the artisinal village where we bought our souvenirs. I unfortunately cannot say much about the country besides the high prevalence of motos and great cafes.
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