In Tougan, the reality is stark. Amid narratives of sovereignty, industrialisation and domestic production, agricultural producers report facing alone a far less rosy situation: selling their harvests at a loss, repaying loans and, at times, considering crossing the border to survive.
“Last year, maize did well. They capped the price, and farmers made no profit. This year, others will cross the border because of debts,” a testimony from Tougan reveals. A situation summed up by a particularly telling phrase: “The farmer cries when harvests are good, and cries when harvests are bad.”
This contradiction raises a fundamental question: where has the priority given to those who feed the country gone?
Official discourse versus rural reality
Since coming to power, Ibrahim Traoré has regularly highlighted local production, economic sovereignty and Burkina Faso’s ability to manufacture certain equipment itself. Announcements about industrial units, particularly those for the army’s needs, feature prominently in this communication.
But an economy is not limited to its factories or military equipment.
While new industrial capacities are presented as symbols of sovereignty, farmers continue to face much more immediate problems: insufficient purchase prices, indebtedness, uncertain markets and low profitability of harvests.
Producing more only makes sense if the producer can also make a living from their work.
The Tougan crisis: a symptom of deeper issues
The problem in Tougan goes beyond the simple case of maize. It raises the question of agricultural investment. What entrepreneur will sustainably invest in a sector where a good harvest can drive prices down to the point of ruining the producer, while a bad harvest exposes them directly to debt?
This is precisely one of the major blind spots in the sovereignty narrative: a nation does not become economically independent solely because it manufactures its own weapons. It must also be able to secure the incomes of those who produce its food.
The paradox is brutal. Burkina wants to produce its equipment locally, but some agricultural producers still seem to be searching for ways to sell their own production without losing their investment.
By focusing on images of factories, machines and military equipment, the authorities risk leaving in the shadows another reality: that of fields, granaries, credits and rural families awaiting concrete solutions.
Rethinking sovereignty: from factories to fields
Sovereignty is not measured only by what a state can manufacture for its army. It is also measured by its ability to protect those who, every morning, plant a seed to feed the nation.
In Tougan, the question is therefore not how many factories Burkina Faso can inaugurate. The question is simpler, and probably more urgent: how much longer can the producer work without earning a living?
