Burkina Faso

The agro-sylvo-pastoral sector in Burkina Faso is a key component of the national economy, employing almost 90% of the working population. With cotton as its main cash crop, it accounts for almost 40% of GDP (agriculture 25%, livestock 12%, forestry and fisheries 3%). Burkina Faso has around 15 agricultural R&D organizations. In 2020, CIRAD worked on some major projects, most of them part of the DeSIRA initiative led by the European Commission, covering the fields of agroecology, pastoralism, animal health and bioenergy, with a view to making agriculture and food systems more resilient to climate change.
Post-harvest cotton storage, Burkina Faso. © B. Pioch, CIRAD

Post-harvest cotton storage, Burkina Faso. © B. Pioch, CIRAD

Main research areas

CIRAD’s operations in Burkina Faso are structured around priority lines of research. Some are undertaken in connection with four Research and Training Platforms in Partnership (dP) and a Joint International Laboratory (LMI), of which CIRAD is a member, and which have been part of a regional configuration since they were founded. Most of the activities concern 30 action-research projects involving CIRAD. The projects are often linked to the dPs or LMI, for which they are the main technical and financial resources.

  • Agroecological transition
    Strengthening interactions between agricultural, pastoral and forestry aspects and guaranteeing their sustainability in the savannah zones of the Sudano-Sahelian region. It is necessary to more effectively assist stakeholders and more effectively understand socio-economic determinants, in order to promote the adoption of agroecological practices on a wide scale.
  • Food and food security
  • Plant breeding responding to the complexity of the agroecological systems encountered in the sub-Saharan zone.
  • Bioenergy
    Energy security and food security in West Africa are closely linked. This particularly includes forest management and sustainable wood supplies to towns, along with the development of a bioenergy sector that meets the requirements of small and medium-sized agrifood processors.
  • Livestock farming and pastoralism
    Transhumant livestock farming and pastoralism remain the predominant forms of animal production, or even income, in Sahelian regions facing economic, social and security crises. Better regulation calls for a clear and shared vision of pastoralism and better knowledge of agropastoral activity, how it is evolving and the social relationships associated with the different types of livestock farming.
  • Assisting professionals in innovation processes
    Capacity-building among players in agricultural innovation systems, i.e., their ability to work together, engage in political and strategic processes, manage innovation processes, experiment and learn, can help to more effectively meet the needs of producers and consumers, thereby significantly improving the living conditions of rural populations.
  • Irrigation and agricultural use of water resources
    Agricultural use of water resources in small-scale irrigation systems, such as lowland schemes, or small-scale private irrigation, relies on a good understanding of hydrological functioning, the scaling-up of innovations to improve irrigation practices and the functionality of the schemes, along with effective organization of producers.
  • One Health: an integrated animal, plant and ecosystem health approach, in connection with public health

Key figures

  • 9 expatriates researchers
  • 10 missions per years
  • 37 currents projects
  • 25 publications per years
  • 3 PhD students supervised
  • 36 Internships and masters supervised per year

Some flagship projects

Strengthening agricultural advisory systems in support of the agroecological transitions of family farming in sub-Saharan Africa

The purpose of the ACOTAF project is to improve the performance and impacts of integrated agricultural advisory systems intended for family farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, with a view to obtaining the changes wished for by farmers, both men and women, and by decision-makers. Specifically, it involves strengthening knowledge management and the capacities of those involved in providing advice for a renewal of agricultural advisory services that would further the agroecological transitions in this region.

 

Cooperation and partnerships

On a policy level, the framework of the farming sector is defined by the Rural Development Strategy (SDR), revised up to 2025, and implemented through the Second National Rural Sector Programme (PNSR II), the rural component of the National Economic and Social Development Plan (PNDES). PNSR II, adopted for the 2016-2020 period, represents the sole planning framework for all the tasks undertaken by the departments in charge of the rural sector, including the R&D tasks defined in the third sector policy of the SDR.

Research and training platforms in partnership

Main partners

Cooperation framework agreements signed with our main partners, national institutions (CNRST, universities, etc.), or regional institutions (CIRDES, CILSS, 2iE, etc.) govern our partnership strategy in Burkina Faso. They are supplemented by agreements defining the conditions for hosting CIRAD researchers and the terms of collaboration in projects. CIRAD staff members are hosted by INERA (3), CIRDES (3), the 2iE Institute (2), Thomas Sankara University (1) and Nazi Boni University (1); two staff members are directly seconded to CIRAD’s regional office. At the moment, our main partners are:

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