L’orpaillage au Burkina Faso : une aubaine économique pour les populations, aux conséquences sociales et environnementales mal maîtrisées

Abstract

Cet article s’intéresse aux problématiques soulevées par l’orpaillage au Burkina Faso. L’extraction artisanale de l’or constitue aujourd’hui un des piliers de l’économie de cet État pauvre d’Afrique de l’Ouest. Cette exploitation n’est pas exempte de problèmes, elle provoque une désintégration du tissu social et une dégradation de l’environnement. La découverte de gisements génère par exemple des migrations massives vers les sites miniers et la création de camps de fortune. Loin des villes, les orpailleurs et leurs familles sont privés d’infrastructures sociales et sanitaires et vivent dans une grande précarité. Enfin, l’environnement aux alentours des mines est durablement pollué par les techniques d’extraction de l’or (usage de mercure ou de cyanure). Néanmoins, nous verrons que des initiatives plus respectueuses de l’environnement et de la population sont aujourd’hui testées au Burkina Faso.

Monitoring the elimination of gambiense human African trypanosomiasis in the historical focus of Batié, South–West Burkina Faso

“…However, some difficulties should be mentioned as limitations of the study. The growing artisanal gold mining sector [ 37 ] has caused demographic changes, with temporary camps, not recognized at the administrative level, close to the mining sites, while traditional villages are being deserted [ 2 ]. As a result, village population data retrieved during the planning phase were not fully reliable, while camps were not considered for the study as their population was considered too variable to allow correct parasitological follow-up of suspects.…”

The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso

“…Gold diggers also stimulate local trade for their inputs, be it batteries, kerosene, dynamite, hammers, pickaxes, shovels, wood ladders, ropes, buckets, calabashes, plastic bags, mortars, sluicing plates, and wood or metal sieves. All these inputs are traded by local shops and some of them may be produced locally, mechanically increasing the number of jobs created around each gold digger (Bohbot, 2017).…”

Sociotechnical Context and Agroecological Transition for Smallholder Farms in Benin and Burkina Faso

“…In general, in the Sahelian zone, more than 700,000 hectares are cultivated in water and soil conservation (CES), particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, while in the Dogon Plateau, the central plateau of Burkina Faso and the Maradi Zinder zone in Niger, nearly 5 million hectares are undergoing "assisted natural regeneration" [156,157]. In the same vein, the government of Burkina Faso, in collaboration with the other sahelian countries, has undertaken the Great Green Wall project with a view to curbing the advance of desertification, restoring and enhancing the potential of arid and semi-arid zones, and promoting the conditions for sustainable development [158] However, in Burkina Faso, agrosilvopastoral exploitation is increasingly facing recent developments of the mining sector and its corollary (e.g., loss of agricultural labor to the profile of gold sites, monopolization of agricultural land, environmental pollution) [159][160][161]. Growing insecurity, especially in the north and east of the country, is also putting a strain on this sector, which is already prone to several difficulties [162].…”