Defining the poor by the rural communities of Burkina Faso: implications for the development of sustainable parkland management

Abstract

Parklands are mixtures of trees and shrubs that farmers select for certain functions. In the Sahel, parklands are cultivated together with staple food crops, such as millet and sorghum. Parkland trees are sources of foods, including fruits, fats, oils, leafy vegetables, nuts and condiments that complement food crops in the local diet. Despite their socio-economic and ecological role, many studies have shown that the parklands are degrading very rapidly. Therefore, there is a need to undertake restoration actions that are based on a clear understanding of the livelihood context, such as the wealth status of the farmers, in which these agroecosystems are evolving. Thus, we conducted a wealth survey with rural communities in two different farming systems of Burkina Faso that are the cereal-based system in the ''Plateau Central'' and the cotton-based system in the ''Boucle du Mouhoun''. A total of twelve villages were sampled, six villages for each system. The Participatory Analysis of Poverty and Livelihood Dynamics (PAPoLD) method was used by rural farmers to rank farmer households of their communities according to their wealth status. The results revealed that 70% of households in the Plateau Central and 56% in the ''Boucle du Mouhoun'' managed to escape poverty, and became wealthy. However, 2% of households of the villages in the Plateau Central and 6% in ''Boucle du Mouhoun'' fell into poverty in the same period whereas 9 and 12% remained poor in these zones, respectively. The main causes associated with households getting out of poverty are subsidies for cotton, external revenues from relatives working in towns and gardening activities. Death of spouse, illness, high number of people in the household and indebtedness are the main causes that lead into poverty. The implications of these findings in designing appropriate policies and management options for a sustainable management of agroforestry parklands under different land use systems were finally discussed.

Separating competition-related factors limiting crop performance in an agroforestry parkland system in Burkina Faso

“…The population density of the area is amongst the highest of the country with 76 inhabitants km -2 (Belem et al 2011). Less than 50% of the farmers use donkeydrawn implements and very few ox-drawn implements due to the costs involved in the absence of subsidies for cereals, and the remaining cultivating by hand-hoe.…”

Smallholders’ Tree Planting Activity in the Ziro Province, Southern Burkina Faso: Impacts on Livelihood and Policy Implications

“…As a result, tree planting has been extensively promoted and adopted as a policy intervention to restore and enhance ecosystem goods and services such as carbon sequestration and enhancing soil fertility [13][14][15], as well as to support and sustain livelihoods and build economic and environmental resilience [16][17][18]. Due to the magnitude of the effects of climate variability and change on food security and the livelihood strategies of smallholder farmers, tree planting has been identified as being especially important in the Sahel and Burkina Faso [12].…”

Poverty and Environmental Degradation in Southern Burkina Faso: An Assessment Based on Participatory Methods

“…Parklands are considered to be agroforestry systems, but their biodiversity depends on the original vegetation cover, the number and type of trees and shrubs spared during conversion to farmland, the needs of farmers, etc. [20]. Subsistence production includes the cultivation of cereals (such as sorghum, sesame, maize and millet) and tubers (yam and sweet potatoes) and animal husbandry.…”

“…Subsistence production includes the cultivation of cereals (such as sorghum, sesame, maize and millet) and tubers (yam and sweet potatoes) and animal husbandry. In addition to the above, a more complex and lucrative production system exists that involves the extraction of fuel wood and non-timber forest products, the cultivation of cash crops (cotton and fruit-tree plantations) and ranching [20]. The natural flora is dominated by perennial grasses such as Andropogon gayanus Kunth, A. ascinodis C.B.…”

“…Understanding the livelihood activities of farming households characterized by different economic means will provide insight into the natural resource management problems implicit in poverty-environment linkages. These problems are considered to be largely related to agriculture [20] and may be responsible for the depletion of both individual and common-pool resources.…”