Burkina Faso: At the heart of the 3rd JEPPC, Captain Ibrahim Traoré breaks the chains of food imperialism
The gesture seems ordinary, almost hidden behind the routine of meals. Yet, by opening the third edition of the National Days of Patriotic Engagement, Captain Ibrahim Traoré has just shifted the center of gravity in the struggle for sovereignty. It is no longer solely a matter of garrisons or diplomacy. From now on, the reconquest of national dignity goes through the table, through that visceral, daily link between the land and the stomach.
For too long, the massive importation of rice or powdered milk has been not merely a trade statistic. It is the face of an accepted dependence, an “imperialism of the plate” that stifles the genius of the plains of Bagré or Sourou.
By hammering home, the slogan “My plate, my pride!”, the Head of State is not simply making a call to civic duty. He is laying the foundational act of an economy of resistance.
This vision goes beyond mere encouragement of local consumption. It outlines a societal project in which the trader, the farmer, and the citizen form a coherent bulwark against economic extraversion.
Choosing the Faso green bean or traditional soumbala means disarming the mechanisms of domination that convinced us that elsewhere was necessarily better. It is a process of mental decolonization taking place in the intimacy of every Burkinabe household.
The stakes are immense: transforming the reflex of purchasing into a political act. By protecting “made in Burkina” products, the State creates the conditions for endogenous, solid, and protective growth.
This is a war against precariousness waged with a fork in hand. The message is clear: the Burkinabe of tomorrow is one who feeds on his own strength, one who refuses to beg for what his soil can offer generously.
In essence, this initiative reminds us of a universal truth too often forgotten in our latitudes. He who holds your spoon ends up holding your destiny.
Maurice K.ZONGO
