Father Maurice Oudet

Burkina Faso

Perspective

Far from towns and telephone lines

Could the Internet be useful to farmers, even those who are illiterate? Father Maurice Oudet, a priest who lives in Burkina Faso, shares his views and experience.

Several months ago I was in a parish where there was no telephone and the nearest post office was about 20 kilometres away. And now I'm living in Koudougou, a town about 100 km from Ouagadougou, (the capital of Burkina Faso) and not only do I have a telephone but I am also linked to the Internet.

If I compare Ouagadougou today with what it was like in 1965 when I first arrived in the country I can see huge progress. But, although there have been many changes to the lives of farmers, I can also see that there are families who still do not have enough to eat. In Burkina, 92% of the population lives on the land and has no direct or easy access to a telephone. The national literacy rate is about 20% (including the towns where the rate is higher than in the countryside). (1992 figures) and the average farmer's income is often not much more than a dollar a day (5 French francs). So it is reasonable to ask whether, realistically, the Internet can be of any use to farmers. Obviously direct use is out of the question but, in my view, the Internet does, indirectly, have something valuable to offer.

In fact I can quote an example of how the Internet can be of real and direct use in rural Africa and, in particular, to the farmers of Burkina Faso. Without wishing to blow my own trumpet, I would like to explain how we are trying to set up a publishing service entirely dedicated to the rural areas, in some of the 60 languages spoken in Burkina.

Although rural people are largely illiterate, more and more farmers now know how to read and write in their own language. But often there is nothing to read because information that could be useful to them is printed in French. We want to make this information available in as many languages as possible so we have started to produce a magazine, every three months, to which farmers themselves can contribute. They can express their own views, share experiences and pass on practical tips.

Each region and language has its own editorial team and we provide the desktop publishing facilities here in Koudougou. From the feedback that we have received so far, it is clear that the magazine is much appreciated. And the Internet is proving a marvellous tool. A few days ago, for example, I discovered, on a Canadian site, some information on millet which could be of great interest to farmers here in Burkina. The challenge is to make the Internet accessible to those who need it, even those on very low incomes, far from towns and telephone lines.

First printed in Témoignage chrétien

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