Fragile futures: Rural lives in times of conflicts

Village Burkina Faso

PROJECT IS COMPLETED
Project period: 2012-2017

The project ’Fragile futures: Rural lives in times of conflicts’ explored the relationship between state and citizens in the West African country Burkina Faso.

It was a joint project between the University of Copenhagen (Department for Anthropology) and the University of Ouagadougou (Department for Sociology) funded by Danida. Burkinabe and Danish researchers as well as a number of master students were involved in the project.

Subsequently, the project was followed by the project ‘Emerging Epidemics: Improving Preparedness in Burkina Faso’, which identifies key elements for a smart foresighting system for early detection of infectious diseases.

More about the project

At the time of the project, the West African region received increased international attention due to its fragile security situation. Conflicts in neighbouring countries also threatened the peace and stability in Burkina Faso. Moreover, security issues had emerged in the northern part of the country where the Al Quida organisation AQMI operates, political unrest in the Ivory Coast forced migrant workers to return jobless to Burkina Faso and conflicts between farmers and cattle herders over water resources were becoming more frequent.

On this background, the overall aim of the project was to identify key potentials for the strengthening of the relationship between the civil society and the state in order to prevent future conflicts. The hypothesis of the project was that a perception of the state as a set of institutions providing services for the population and a sense of belonging to the state are particularly important in poor countries with vulnerable populations in order to avoid conflicts to emerge.

The project looked at the relationship between the civil society and the state from the village perspective. Anthropological and sociological fieldwork in two contrasting villages investigated local imaginaries of the state and how the villagers would use and relate to the local representations of the state (health system, water provision and conflict management).

Finally, the project identified the core elements for a future strategy in order to prevent conflicts.

Participants

Helle Samuelsen (PI), Ph.D. Associate Professor, Head of Department, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Copenhagen
Postdoc, Gabin Korbéogo, Ph.D. Department of Sociology, University of Ouagadougou
Postdoc, Léa Paré Toé, Ph.D. Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé (IRSS), Direction Régionale de l’Ouest
Ph.D. Fellow, Lise Rosendal Østergaard, MA, MIH, Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen
Ph.D. Fellow, David Ilboudo, Department of Sociology, University of Ouagadougou
Ph.D. Fellow, Issa Sombié, Department of Sociology, University of Ouagadougou
Ph.D. Fellow, Cissao Yacouba, Department of Sociology, University of Ouagadougou

Research outcomes

Policy papers

A number of policy briefs were published during the project. Find links in the box to the right.

News

A news report from the final workshop held in April 2017 in Burkana Faso:
Fragile Futures–project shares research results with key stakeholders in Ouagadougou

Project posters and updates published during the project

Poster with findings from PhD project (Lise Rosendal Østergaard):
Job motivation and frustrations in the public health care sector in rural Burkina Faso: A health worker perspective

Poster with project update (November 2015):
Update

Publications

Sombié, Issa, Ilboudo D. O., Soubeiga A. K., & Samuelsen H. 2015. “Comprendre l’influence des facteurs contextuels sur la participation communautaire à la santé: une étude de cas dans le district sanitaire de Tenkodogo, au Burkina Faso”. Global Health Promotion.

Sombié, Issa, D. Amendah, K. A. Soubeiga. 2015. “Les perceptions locales de la participation communautaire à la santé au Burkina Faso”. Santé publique 27 (4), 557-564. https://www.cairn.info/revue-sante-publique-2015-4-page-557.htm

Østergaard, Lise Rosendal. 2015. “Maternal healthcare in context: A qualitative study of women's tactics to improve their experience of public healthcare in rural Burkina Faso”. Social Science & Medicine 147:98-104.

Østergaard, Lise Rosendal. 2015. “Trust matters: a narrative literature review of the role of trust in health-care systems in Sub-Saharan Africa”. Global Public Health 10 (9):1046-1059.

Østergaard, Lise Rosendal. 2015. “Ebola vu de loin : les agents de la santé face au risque et à l'incertitude dans les campagnes du Burkina Faso”. Anthropologie & Santé 11.

Ilboudo, David, Issa Sombié, André Soubeiga, & Tania Dræbel. 2016. “Facteurs influençant le refus de consulter au centre de santé dans la région rurale Ouest du Burkina Faso”. Santé publique 28 (3).

Østergaard, Lise Rosendal, Bjertrup, Pia Juul & Samuelsen, Helle. 2016. “Children get sick all the time: A qualitative study of socio-cultural and health system factors contributing to recurrent child illnesses in rural Burkina Faso”. BMC Public Health, 16:384

Østergaard, Lise Rosendal. 2016. “Occupational Citizenship: Practices, Routines and Bureaucracy among Nurses and Midwives in Rural Burkina Faso”. MAT Medicine Anthropology Theory, Vol. 3, No. 2, 13.09.2016, p. 244-268. p

Cissao, Yacouba 2019. "La Gestion des Conflits dans le Dèpartement de Tenkodogo (Burkina Faso): Entre Besoin et Rejet de l’État". Revue NSAZZA ISBN 2706-5405, Numero 2, p. 331-342.

Lea Pare Toe & Helle Samuelsen 2020: ”Balancing professional autonomy and authority at the margins of a fragile state: Front-line health workeres’ experiences in Burkina Faso". Global Public Health.

Ilboudo, David O.S. 2020. "Organisation du Systeme de Santé en Milieu Rural au Burkina Faso et Logiques d’Acteurs : Une Lecture a partir de la Street Level Bureaucracy". Revue DEZAN Vol 8(1), p. 211-231.

Korbeogo, Gabin 2020. "Figures Féminines Émergentes de l’Entrepreneuriat Agricole au Burkina Faso. Expériences dans les systèmes de Bagré et de Bama". Cahiers du CERLESHS, numero 64 : 103-120.

Korbéogo, Gabin 2020. "Framing the fluidity of water management conflicts in the Bagré irrigation scheme, Burkina Faso". Water Alternatives 13(1): 70-92