The priest, the plough and the rural world Overview of the contribution of Mission to development in Upper-Volta (now Burkina Faso)

This paper explores the relationship between religion and development as inspired by the implication of a missionary White Father in the agricultural development of former Upper-Volta (now Burkina Faso) between 1958 and 1983. By 'inventing' (so to speak) the donkey-dragged hoe or houe-manga and by the development of donkey-dragged hoe farming, Reverend Father Regis Chaix has brought in an improvement of local farming techniques and paved the way to an agricultural revolution in that disinherited corner of Africa. The farming practices introduced by this missionary have reduced the laboriousness of agricultural work and improved the living conditions of Voltaics. In the light of his experience, it appears that the double decade of development (1960-1980) set up by unesco has provided an opportunity to the Catholic Church to rediscover the fundamental link between evangelization and development.