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

Abstract

Climate variability and change significantly affect smallholder farmers' food security and livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Tree planting is one of the measures promoted by development programs to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Tree planting is also believed to positively contribute to livelihoods. This paper examines factors influencing smallholders' tree planting activities in four villages in the Ziro province, Southern Burkina Faso. Furthermore, it analyses the challenges encountered and willingness to continue tree planting under current tenure arrangements. The data was obtained through key informants, household interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations. Results indicate that the majority of farmers interviewed planted Mangifera indica (50%), Anacardium occidentale (32%) and Moringa oleifera (30%). In a number of trees planted, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Mangifera indica and Anacardium occidentale dominated. Tree planters were mainly farmers who held large and old farm areas, were literate and relatively wealthy, had favorable attitudes toward tree planting, and with considerable years of participation in a farmers' group. The main reasons for planting trees included income generation from the sale of tree products, access to markets and local support for tree planting. Preference for agriculture, tenure insecurity and lack of sufficient land were the main reasons cited for not planting trees. Farm households that were relatively poor, had OPEN ACCESSForests 2015, 6 2656 smaller workforces and smaller farm sizes were not willing to continue tree planting. To effectively engage farmers in tree planting and to make it more attractive, policies are needed that address tenure insecurity for migrants, enable better access to markets, and support fair pricing structures for wood and other tree resources.

Functions of farmers’ preferred tree species and their potential carbon stocks in southern Burkina Faso: implications for biocarbon initiatives

“…The study sites were in the following villages: Kou, Dao, Vrassan and Cassou (Fig 1), located in Ziro Province (11°16’N to 11 °45’N and 2°10’W to 1°48’W) in south-central Burkina Faso. These villages were selected because local populations have close interactions with the Cassou Forest [12, 23].…”

Incentives and Constraints of Community and Smallholder Forestry

“…Three papers are from Asia [9,11,15], two from Africa [13,16], two from Central America [12,17], and two from the Amazon basin [10,14].…”

“…The regulatory environment, but especially public administration support, or lack thereof, is singled out as one compounding factor reducing profitability and chances of success. The paper by Etongo et al [16], on the other hand, analyzes factors impacting profitability of tree plantations among villagers in Ziro province, in Burkina Faso. While the paper identifies major influences like tenure security and access to land, it also explores characteristics of farmers who engage in tree planting and those that refrain from doing so, concluding that intra-communal variations play a major role in tree planting behavior, and therefor influence outcomes of community and smallholder forestry.…”

“…Poffenberger [15], in turn, focuses on how villagers in Northeast India strive to adapt to standards that emerge from global efforts to align local forest management to wider goals of climate change mitigation. Etongo et al [16] examine the factors that incentivize tree planting among smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso, and Sloan [17] explores how communal forest management and reforestation contribute to forest cover and forest condition change, while interacting with corporate actors in the wider landscape. The list of papers can be found in Table 1.…”

The Role of Woodlots in Forest Regeneration outside Protected Areas: Lessons from Tanzania

“…Woodlots on land adjacent to some forest edges in the Rift are 105 increasing at a rapid rate [33,35]. Amidst this rapid expansion of woodlots [34,38,39], it remains 106 unclear how smallholders decide to establish woodlots on a given land parcel versus another. These 107 land allocation decisions are relevant to forest regeneration planning because management practices 108 related to woodlots (e.g., suppressing fires and competing vegetation) shape native tree seedlings 109 regeneration [36,40].…”