Availability of quality feed is a major constraint for livestock production in Burkina Faso. Despite previous efforts to test improved forages at research stations to overcome the dry‐season feed gap, little has been done to promote them as cash crops that can contribute to meeting the growing feed demand in the country. This study was undertaken to evaluate the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved forage by livestock producers in the peri‐urban livestock production systems of Burkina Faso. A total of 202 livestock producers were interviewed using semi‐structured questionnaires. The contingent valuation method and Tobit econometric model were used to analyze the survey data. Exactly 79% of the interviewed livestock producers were willing to pay for improved forages for their livestock. Key factors that significantly affect this decision were the price of cottonseed cakes used as supplemental feed (P = .001), farmers’ knowledge about improved forage crops (P = .001), farmers’ ethnicity (P = .05), and farmers’ practice of daily grazing and transhumance (P = .01). The estimated WTP for improved forage as a cash crop was US$0.32 kg–1 for all livestock producers and $0.58 kg–1 for those who only expressed a positive WTP. The positive WTP for improved forages and factors affecting that decision suggest that producing improved forages is a viable alternative to expensive cottonseed cakes and the practice of transhumance to overcome the dry‐season feed gap. Therefore, dissemination of improved forages is recommended to market‐oriented crop farmers to meet the growing feed demand in Burkina Faso.

The overall objective of this study is to identify the major factors affecting smart valley new technologies in lowland by rice farmers in Burkina Faso. Managing flood and water retention in lowland rice farming is still the biggest challenge in West Africa particularly in Burkina Faso. In order to face this challenge Africa Rice funded a project to promote this technology in Burkina Faso during 2018 and 2020. Surveys on 145 rice farmers spread in 6 villages were carried out. A Probit model was used to analyse the key factors affecting the adoption decision. The results show that women are the highest adopters (76.36%) of smart valley technology. Also, about 92.19% of the adopters have access to technical support structures (extension services, research and NGOs) compared to 7.81% of the non-adopters. The analysis show also that schooling level, rice farming experience, contact with agricultural extension and research institutes, additional cost due to the technology and the yield are key factors influencing the farmers adoption decisions. The additional cost due to smart valley construction is affecting negatively the decision to adopt it. This factor is the key to enhance the adoption rate because all the beneficiaries recognize that smart valley is able to manage drought and flood effectively; but the cost still unreachable to lowland rice farmers.