To most people Burkina Faso is an unfamiliar place. This land-locked country, once a French colony, used to be called Upper Volta. Its northern border adjoins the Sahara Desert, so precipitation is very limited. At the end of the 1960's, the ROC assisted Burkina Faso with the internationally renowned Kou River Rice Cultivation Project. Burkina Faso actually issued a set of stamps to commemorate the contribution of the Agricultural Mission and the project was also featured in Readers Digest.
Although Burkina Faso is a poor country, its people are very hard-working. To improve the overall economic, social and political environment, the government is currently implementing a Structural Adjustment Program in which the entire country has been mobilized. Because of the country's overall performance it is regarded by the EU and a number of international organizations as a country with a bright future.
After being away from Burkina Faso for over 20 years following the severing of diplomatic relations between the ROC and Burkina Faso, an Agricultural Technical Mission was once again dispatched to provide assistance. In less than three years, another kind of "Taiwan miracle" has been achieved in the previously barren Bagre Reclamation.
Since the name "Bagre" became well-known, numerous students and teachers from Burkina Faso's schools and colleges have visited the area. It has not only become a popular tourist area, "Bagre" has also become synonymous with "ROC."
With the Kou River and Bagre reclamation projects, the ROC Agricultural Technical Mission has not only created an oasis in the desert, they have also helped realize hopes common to mankind.
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Does the Kou River Reclamation look familiar? Isn't it reminiscent of rural southern Taiwan?
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