THOMAS SANKARA REJECTS FOOD AID

Thomas Sankara (1949-87), Burkina Faso’s revolutionary leader until his assassination, famously stated, ‘He who feeds you, controls you.’

In this 1987 interview, he elaborated on that point by explaining that foreign aid through Western institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), impose conditions on African countries that distract from the path to true independence.

‘Where is imperialism?’ Sankara asked. ‘Look at your plates when you eat. The imported grains of rice, corn and millet? That is imperialism. Let's not look any further.’

He said food aid creates dependency on imports, keeping African farmers from selling their crops at a fair rate. For Sankara, true food aid came in the form of agricultural tools and technologies that would lead to food sovereignty and self-sufficiency.

Today, Burkina Faso is once again following the path that Sankara laid out, this time under Captain Ibrahim Traoré (@capitaineib226 on X), who came to power like Sankara. In 2022, a people-backed military coup d’état ousted a Western-aligned leader. Since then, the new Burkinabé government has distributed farming equipment to local farmers as well as purchased tractors and other important farming technology. Furthermore, the country is industrialising food production by constructing factories, such as two that churn tomatoes into paste, another that mills grains into flour and yet another that refines rice.

Burkina Faso has $330.2 million in outstanding IMF loan debt. However, it looks like the country will soon be able to produce what it consumes.

Video credit: 'Concerning Violence,' Final Cut for Real, Helsinki Filmi Oy, Göran Olsson (2014)

Sources

https://www.thomassankara.net/thomas-sankara-a-leader-before-his-time/?lang=en

https://www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/where-is-imperialism-look-at-your

https://www.sidwaya.info/burkina-faso-deploiement-des-tracteurs-pour-loffensive-agropastorale-et-halieutique-2023-2025/

https://www.sidwaya.info/burkina-faso-deploiement-des-tracteurs-pour-loffensive-agropastorale-et-halieutique-2023-2025/

https://www.world-grain.com/articles/21068-burkina-faso-inaugurates-flour-mill

https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/BFA