Prison Reform Program

Government backs inmate farm work for sentence cuts as part of broader effort to ease overcrowding, boost food output, and reshape justice under Traoré.

Burkina Faso’s military-led government has launched an ambitious prison reform program that allows inmates to reduce their sentences through agricultural labor, a move officials say is aimed at easing overcrowding, improving rehabilitation, and strengthening food production in the conflict-hit West African nation.

The policy, backed by Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s administration, permits prisoners to earn up to three months off their sentences for every month spent working on state-managed farms. Authorities say the initiative marks a shift