Fiona Faye

University of Kassel

2 - Global Partnership in the Global Economy

Prof. Dr. Aram Ziai

Learning from Thomas Sankara: Food Self-Sufficiency Politics as Resistance against the Neoliberal Trade Regime now and then

This doctoral project examines the food self-sufficiency policies implemented in Burkina Faso under the presidency of Thomas Sankara (1983–1987) from a postcolonial political economy perspective. Situated within debates on economic neo-colonialism, the project investigates the extent to which the Sankara government succeeded in advancing economic self-determination through food self-sufficiency policies.

The first part of the research analyses whether Burkina Faso was indeed able to significantly increase its capacity to feed its population with domestically produced food during the Sankara period. To answer this question, the project combines quantitative analysis with archival research conducted in Ouagadougou, including materials from national archives, ministries, statistical institutes, and international organizations.

The second research focus examines the specific economic and trade policy measures through which food self-sufficiency was promoted. In addition to archival documents, the study draws on expert interviews with former policymakers who were directly involved in the implementation of these policies. The aim is to better understand both the achievements and the practical challenges of state-led food sovereignty strategies in a postcolonial context.

Finally, the project explores what contemporary political and social movements can learn from the economic policies of the Sankara era. However, it argues that these policies cannot simply be replicated today, as the global trade regime has fundamentally changed since the 1980s. The transition from the GATT framework to the neoliberal free trade architecture of the WTO, the expansion of multilateral trade agreements, and the continued role of trade-related conditionalities in development financing have considerably narrowed the policy space for protectionist food self-sufficiency strategies. Through a comparative analysis of trade regulations and institutional frameworks, the dissertation therefore investigates how the possibilities for autonomous trade policy have evolved since Sankara’s assassination in 1987. It also considers the emergence of the Alliance des États du Sahel (AES) and its potential implications for regional economic sovereignty and food self-sufficiency policies today.

B.A. in African Studies with a focus on Geography and Economics (University of Bayreuth);

M.A. in Global Political Economy and Development (University of Kassel)

2020–2024: Academic Coordinator at the Global Partnership Network

Active in the transnational network “Afrique-Europe-Interact”;

volunteer for the online archive thomassankara.net

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (PhD Fellowship)

Faye, Fiona, Aram Ziai, and Joshua Kwesi Aikins. 2025. “International Cooperation in a Neocolonial World: Lessons from the GPN Experience – Policy Paper.” KOBRA, University of Kassel. https://doi.org/10.17170/KOBRA-2025100711494.

Faye, Fiona, Aram Ziai, and Joshua Kwesi Aikins. 2025. “International Cooperation in a Neocolonial World: Lessons from the GPN Experience – Policy Paper.” KOBRA University of Kassel. https://doi.org/10.17170/KOBRA-2025100711494.

Faye, Fiona, Aram Ziai, and Joshua Kwesi Aikins. 2025. ‘International Cooperation in a Neocolonial World: Lessons from the Global Partnership Network (GPN) ’ – Public Policy Brief’. KOBRA University of Kassel. https://doi.org/10.17170/KOBRA-2025100711494.

Faye, Fiona, and Aram Ziai. 2025. “Rethinking Economic Policy: Steps Toward Decolonization,” ed. Decolonize Berlin. https://decolonize-berlin.de/de/publikationen/wirtschaftspolitik

Faye, Fiona. 2023. “Burkina Faso Under the Presidency of Thomas Sankara – A Post-Developmental State?” Master’s thesis. University of Kassel, Department for Development and Postcolonial Studies. https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/handle/123456789/14645

Faye, Fiona. 2021. ‘Livity: The Good Life of Rastas in Benin — A Lived Alternative to “Development”?’ In Decolonizing Development Cooperation and Postdevelopment Alternatives – Actors, Institutions, Practice, edited by Julia Schöneberg and Aram Ziai. Nomos, 2021.

Faye, Fiona. 2019. ‘Uncomfortable in White Skin: Research, (Self-)Reflexivity and Representation’. Convivial Thinking. https://www.convivialthinking.org/index.php/2019/12/14/uncomfortable/.