Drought Impacts on the Crop Sector and Adaptation Options in Burkina Faso: A Gender-Focused Computable General Equilibrium Analysis

Abstract

The crop sector in Burkina Faso has been facing recurrent droughts since 1970. This study analyzes the impacts of droughts and adaptation options such as the use of irrigation capacity development methods, integrated soil management and drought-tolerant crop varieties on the crop sector. Indeed, we focus on the consequences of agricultural droughts on economic growth and employment and on the gender dimension of household poverty. Using a gendered dynamic computable general equilibrium model linked to a microsimulation model, we conduct simulations of various drought scenarios (mild, moderate and severe). We show that the mild, moderate and intense droughts experienced by Burkina Faso over the past ten years have negatively affected the country’s economic performance and considerably degraded the welfare of its households. The gross domestic product has fallen by 3.0% in the short term and 3.3% in the long term due to intense droughts. Moreover, the number of poor people is growing faster in male-headed households than in female-headed households. Given the large female population in both groups of households, women bear the brunt of droughts. These results also demonstrate how these negative impacts could worsen in the future with the recurrence of intense droughts due to the threat of global climate change. We find that Burkina Faso has room to reduce the negative impacts by adopting drought-tolerant crop varieties, integrated soil management approaches or expanding their irrigation capacity.

Potential Impacts of Climate Change on the Sudan-Sahel Region in West Africa - Insights from Burkina Faso

“…Further studies could examine the impacts of heatwaves, droughts, and strong winds in Burkina Faso with corresponding indices. Indeed, heatwaves, droughts, and strong winds occur frequently and have significant impacts on human health and crops (Sawadogo, 2022;Sorgho et al, 2021b;Visser et al, 2003).…”

Investigation of the Fermentation Mode of Rice Husk for the Stabilization of Earth Plaster

“…Nafissatou et al [11] used the bulk rice husk available in Burkina Faso [14] to stabilize the earth plaster. The result show that the apparent density, linear shrinkage, compressive strength, and abrasion resistance of the specimens decrease respectively from 1.88 g/cm 3 to 1.07 g/cm 3 , 4.52% to 0.83%, 3.88 MPa to 0.82 MPa, and 0.21 cm 2 /g to 2.84 cm 2 /g with increasing RH content from 0% to 67%.…”