Rehabilitating soil fertility in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in the West-African Sahel. The agricultural sector is the mainstay of the economy but it has to operate in the face of many constraints. Over the last few decades, rainfall has become increasingly unreliable and the country suffered major droughts in the 1970s and 1980s. Pressure on natural resources is increasing. Farmers have to maintain their livelihoods in these unfavorable and changing conditions, and find solutions that will allow them to continue cultivating in a sustainable way. This chapter analyses the dynamics of soil management in two villages and focuses on several promising technologies which include composting with rock phosphate, planting pits (zaïs) and methods to control soil erosion.