At Konioudou Primary School in Bazèga province, Françoise Koanda watches 506 kids (274 girls and 232 boys) dig into bowls of babenda, a mix of leafy greens and peanut powder. She’s been the school’s headmistress since 2020, fighting hunger that dulled young minds. Then, in 2021, the African Development Bank funded the School Meals Project with Local Products for Smart Nutrition- PRSNI, bringing $990,000 to plant 70 gardens, including the one at her school. “We grow tomatoes, sorghum, niébé,” she says. “Now, our canteen serves eight local meals, couscous with cabbage and tô with sorrel. It’s a game-changer.”
Across 301 schools, the project has fed 18,205 kids (including 9,033 girls) with 70,000 kg of homegrown vegetables, 183,434 kg of cereals, legumes and oilseed in the four years since 2021. At Konioudou, Françoise’s team learned to cook smart, adding vitamins and deworming pills that cut tummy aches. “Kids show up now,” she smiles. “Our exam pass rate jumped from 50% in 2020 to 76% in 2024.” It’s simple: full bellies, sharp minds.
The Bank’s $1.5 billion in Burkina Faso projects powers this change. The Resilience Program Against Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel- P2RS ($37 million since 2015) grows rice and sesame on thousands of hectares, boosting incomes for women farmers by 30%. The Lomé-Cinkancé-Ouagadougou Corridor Road Project- CU9 ($172 million) paved 303 km of road, not far from Françoise’s school. In Ouagadougou, the Peri-Urban Electrification Project PEPU ($33 million) lights up 27,375 homes, and the Ouagadougou Peripheral Sanitation Project SPAQPO ($42 million) slashes floods by 94%.
Beyond schools, the PRSNI is linked to bigger wins. In the Boucle du Mouhoun region. The CU9 Road Project cuts travel time, so trucks haul 3.8 million tons of goods yearly—up from 2.8 million—helping farmers to sell more. In Ouagadougou’s outskirts, the SPAQPO curbs waterborne illness from 50% to 34%, keeping kids healthy. Together, they build a stronger Burkina Faso.
Françoise says, “The PRSNI taught us teamwork, health and national education.” With $990,000 already spent from the African Development Bank’s pot, her school proves Africa’s people, money, and land can do wonders. But more kids need this. Africa’s annual financing gap of $402 billion looms large. “We need another phase,” she urged, dreaming of every school with a garden. Her story shows how small seeds, backed by smart cash, grow big hopes.
Source African Development Bank Group
