scholarly journals Documenting livelihood trajectories in the context of development interventions in northern Burkina Faso

2013 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Thor West
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Degraded Land ◽  
Central Plateau ◽  
General Direction ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Development Interventions ◽  
Soil And Water

The northern Central Plateau of Burkina Faso has been the site of extensive development assistance since the 1980s. Thousands of hectares of degraded land have been rehabilitated through investments in Soil and Water Conservation (SWC) techniques. Comprehensive assessments of these projects have documented their beneficial impacts. This study extends these insights to consider the effects of SWC on livelihood sustainability by comparing recent household-level indicators with studies conducted twenty years earlier. Comparing quantitative data from two different points in time allows researchers to identify 'livelihood trajectories', or the general direction of either improvement or decline. The results show that although SWC investments have improved the natural capital of Mossi households, improvements in other forms of capital have accrued mostly among wealthy households.Key words: Livelihoods, development, Mossi, Burkina Faso 

scholarly journals Investing in soils: field bunds and microcatchments in Burkina Faso

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harounan Kazianga ◽  
William A. Masters
Keyword(s):  
Property Rights ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Soil Conservation ◽  
Water Runoff ◽  
Alternative Models ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Ownership Rights ◽  
Soil And Water

This research uses field-level data from Burkina Faso to ask what determines farmers' investment in two well-known soil and water conservation techniques: field bunds (barriers to soil and water runoff), and microcatchments (small holes in which seeds and fertilizers are placed). Survey data for 1993 and 1994 are used to estimate Tobit functions, compute elasticities of adoption and intensity of use, perform robustness tests and estimate alternative models. Controlling for land and labor abundance and other factors we find that those who have more ownership rights over farmland, and who do more controlled feeding of livestock, tend to invest more in both technologies. The result suggests that responding to land scarcity with clearer property rights over cropland and pasture could help promote investment in soil conservation, and raise the productivity of factors applied to land.

scholarly journals Economic Performance of Soil and Water Conservation Practicesin Burkina Faso

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. p38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coulibaly Z. C. T. Stephen ◽  
Noufe Tiatite ◽  
Pale Siebou ◽  
Yonli Djibril ◽  
Prasad P. V. Vara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Analysis ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Frontier Analysis ◽  
Soil And Water

The continuous degradation of agroecosystems is a major concern for Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Burkina Faso. To fight against this problem, various research projects and programs have implemented Soil and Water Conservation practices (SWC) in Northern Burkina Faso. The objective of this study was to assess the economic performance of stone rows, grass strips, zaï, filtering dikes, half-moons and agroforestry on agricultural production in this part of Burkina Faso. Stochastic Frontier Analysis was used to estimate SWC’s technical efficiency. Results indicated that the cost for SWC construction did not influence white sorghum and pearl millet yield. However, an increase of 1% in the investment for SWC implementation results in a 0.42% increase in groundnut yield and 0.19% in cowpea yield. Although, the half-moon technique had a positive effect on the farmer’s technical efficiency, the effects of stone rows, filtering dikes, zaï and grass strips were not significant. Given the tremendous efforts that farmers develop to implement these anti-erosion practices, one recommendation is that policy makers strengthen the technical, financial and equipment supports to farmers for efficient implementation of SWC techniques to ensure sustainability of agricultural production systems in Northern Burkina Faso.

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