Changes in rural livelihood assets, activities, and incomes in the Sahelian, Guinean and Sudanian zones of Burkina Faso during the last 20 years are described and examined. A rapid resurvey in 2002 of rural households (n=115) from an ICRISAT sample in 1985 showed that: ownership of household assets (e.g., draught animal and agricultural equipment) has increased significantly; farmers are using more inorganic fertilizers with high intensity in more favourable rainfed areas; households have diversified in and out of the agricultural sector (many farmers in the Sudanian zone have diversified into cash crops such as cotton); and non-farm sources represented about 27, 20, and 11% of the average household income in 2001 in the Sahelian, Sudanian, and Guinean zones, respectively.