Fighting Imperialism with Pineapples: Agropastoral and Fishing Offensive in Burkina Faso
By Penny Arcos
Burkina Faso’s Captain Traore visits a pineapple field. Credit: African Report Files
At Camp Naba Koom 2 in Ouagadougou, the army, trained on a local farm, cultivates a 60,000-foot pineapple field set up on a one-hectare plot and experiment with coffee, cocoa, avocado and cola on a nearby eight-hectare plot. “The army is not just weapons. It must participate in the development of our country. We are teaching the military a lot of things,” Traore said. New agricultural projects in pineapples, wheat, fish, and tomatoes are all part of a plan to make Burkina Faso wealthier, more stable, and more independent.
Thomas Sankara, previous Prime Minister of Burkina Faso. Image credit: Wikipedia
In the spirit of former revolutionary Prime Minister Thomas Sankara, Captain Traore has taken power and launched Burkina Faso's Agropastoral and Fishing Offensive 2023-2025 and a Technological Revolution to liberate West Africa from the domination of Imperialism/Globalism and achieve national sovereignty.
Burkina Faso’s Journey Towards Independence
For nearly a decade, NATO- backed Islamist extremists have destabilized the Sahel region of West Africa. Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation, relies primarily on agriculture, producing cereals, cash crops, roots, tubers, fruits, and vegetables for survival. Terrorism, Sahara desert expansion and overgrazing have forced desperate families to flee en masse in search of stability. In many isolated regions, families still face violent attacks, lack electricity, and even starve.
But Captain Ibrahim Traore is turning Burkina Faso around. Since 2009, Captain Ibrahim Traore has risen through the ranks of the Burkina Faso military to defend his country. Frustrated by corrupt leaders who serve imperialism for suitcases of cash, Captain Traore, age 36, and a group of army officers staged the January 2022 coup d'état and brought the Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration military junta to power.
Colonel Assimi Goïta, interim president of Mali, Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, interim president of Niger, and Captain Ibrahim Traoré, interim president of Burkina Faso, take part in the first summit of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation they founded. © X / @CapitaineIb226
Traore’s first order of business was to form an alliance with Mali and Niger to expel all French/NATO troops. The Sahel Alliance (AES) has also rejected the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a group which serves the interests of NATO. At a Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg in 2023, Traore declared that the Burkinabe people had raised up an army of volunteers to fight against “the most barbaric form, the most violent manifestation, of neocolonialism and imperialism” in order to secure their destiny. “Homeland or death. We will prevail,” he declared. Traore condemned African heads of state who do nothing to help struggling families and dance like marionettes each time the imperialists pull their strings. Meanwhile, in Traore’s Burkina Faso, the government is working to stop the drain of wealth out of the country through ambitious economic moves like nationalized gold mining and a proposed cultural eco-city to honor Princess Yennenga.
Design for Burkina Faso’s proposed Yennenga Smart City
Most of all, however, food security is crucial for independence — no people who are hungry can be free. Defying Western imperialism, Traore has launched the Agropastoral and Fishing Offensive 2023-2025 to end poverty and deadly mass migration. Through pineapple fields, fisheries, wheat fields, and tomato processing plants, Burkina Faso is breaking free.
Wheat fields in Burkina Faso. Photo Credit: Milling Middle East & Africa
Wheat Fields Forever: Achieving Food Sovereignty
Burkina Faso relies heavily on wheat imports. In 2023, Burkina Faso spent $110.3 million to import 270,000 tons of wheat and 16,360 tons of wheat flour to meet national demands. At the Africa-Russia summit in 2023, Russia gifted Burkina Faso 25,000 tons of wheat to help Burkina Faso become self-sufficient in its food supply. Traore thanked Russia and urged African leaders not to return to the next summit without having secured their own food supply.
Burkina Faso has now committed 5,000 hectares to produce wheat seeds to revive local wheat production. Even prisoners are turned into national farmers, reducing their sentences by three months for every month they serve in the wheat fields.
To further strengthen food sovereignty, Burkina Faso partnered with Turkiye and Qatar to launch a $14.4 million pasta manufacturing plant with a flour mill in the Koulpélé Toecé commune. This plant will turn out 100 tons of pasta and 100 tons of flour daily from local wheat producers to empower working Burkinabe families.
New floating fish farms in Burkina Faso. Image credit: Voices of Africa
Floating Fish Farms: A Sustainable Future
Burkina Faso, in partnership with the Netherlands (a world leader in innovative and sustainable aquaculture), initiated a revolutionary $18 million sustainable floating fish farm project.
On Monday, February 24, 2025, the Acting Minister of State, Minister of Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries, Mr. Harouna Sylla, handed over 45 floating floating cages, 60 tons of fish food and 100,000 fryers (small fish) to local fishermen in the Samandeni Watershed to transform fish production and to train agricultural entrepreneurs.
The Fisheries for Employment and Food Security (PESA) will set up hatcheries and training centers in various regions to help combat overfishing and to ensure a peaceful and secure environment between fishermen and fish keepers. This infrastructure will produce nearly 300 tons of fish per year, which will ensure food security, create thousands of jobs and reduce the need for imports.
Commending the Netherlands for their commitment, Traore testified, "Thanks to these floating cages, we now have the opportunity to increase our production and improve our income. This is a real opportunity for us and our families."
New tomato processing plant in Burkina Faso. Image credit: Food Business Africa
The Tomato Revolution: Empowering Local Farmers
Captain Traore is empowering local tomato farmers and ensuring food security until every Burkinabe child eats their fill.
Despite producing 290,000 tons of tomatoes in 2021 and 313,500 tons of tomatoes in 2022, Burkina Faso, the fourth largest producer in West Africa, loses 30% of its produce due to inadequate storage and processing facilities during transport to Ghana. As a result, Burkina Faso imported 23,600 tons of tomato puree worth more than $8 million in 2022, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Rejecting predatory loans from the International Monetary Fund, Burkinabe citizens instead invested their savings into a popular shareholding model called The Agency for the Promotion of Community Entrepreneurship (APEC) to develop three multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art tomato processing plants.
In November 2024 in Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso’s second largest city, Captain Traore inaugurated the $8.9 million facility, named The Société Burkinabè de Tomates (SOBTO). This plant processes 6 tons per hour of locally grown tomatoes into pastes, purees, and sauces under the A’diaa brand. With a projected $13 million annual sales over the first five years, the plant will provide stable employment for thousands of working families and youth.
In December 2024 in Yako, Burkina Faso opened another $8.9 million processing plant, funded by the Cooperative Society with Board of Directors “Building the Future” (SCOOP-CA/BA). Situated just 10 km from one of Burkina Faso’s largest dams, its location ensures a reliable water source for tomato cultivation and processing. This plant, named Société Faso Tomates (SOFATO), sources 70 percent of the required raw materials locally and processes up to 5 tons per hour of tomatoes into pastes, purees and sauces. The facility could generate $11.2 million profit within its first year to meet national needs and to conquer new export markets.
On January 15, 2025, APEC approved funding for a new $2.4 million tomato processing plant in Tenkodogo. The plant’s processing capacity and launch timeline have not yet been revealed.
Captain Traore praises the citizens of Burkina Faso for this ‘unprecedented collective effort’ to reduce waste, support local farmers and create economic independence for working families and youth.
What can we learn from Burkina Faso?
"No one can create the future we want for our country. It is up to us to invent it, create, nurture it, and make it our own.”
-President Captain Ibrahim Traore
Visionary leadership that is committed to fighting for the well-being of the nation is only the first step in the fight to break free from imperialism and globalism.
Massive investment in local production and human labor, not austerity, is the way to prosper. As American leaders debate cuts to social services, tariffs on imports, and other growth-reducing restrictions, Americans should be asking: instead of what can we burn, what can we build?
Collective effort is the best way to strengthen a nation. Burkinabes are committed to carrying out Traore’s vision and are partnering with strategic allies to liberate themselves and their region. While Burkina Faso is a small country, they have proven they can stand up against corrupt global institutions and fight for a more just and prosperous future.
The Center for Political Innovation shares these values. We are City Builders.
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