Presentation of the region
The government is working towards the formal organisation of the rural population into village groups of men, women, or mixed genders. This strategy calls for producers to work first in very small organizations, which nonetheless allow the producers to develop themselves. After some time has past, support from NGOs and government Technical Services will then allow these producers to progress towards membership in cooperatives.
Millions of small-scale cultivators in tropical regions practice agriculture during the rainy season and are heavily dependent on the environment and other factors. In their daily struggle to survive, these rural cultivators and their groups have developed many techniques to obtain plants and animals, as well as the foods and fibres that are indispensable for their survival.
Thus, a wide variety of systems of production developed, each adapted to local ecological conditions and inextricably influenced by the crops suited to the local area. Many of these systems of production have been sustained over centuries, in that they were able to maintain a continuous and stable output. However, these systems have had to face social and political change and integration in an international market controlled by foreign powers.
Systems that once emphasized self-sufficiency have increasingly oriented themselves towards the open market and an improvement in long-distance communications have led to an increase in demand for consumer goods.
Faced with this evolution, the rural population has not been able to satisfy the demand. This failure is generally due to the insufficiency of rainfall, the degradation of the soils, and to a lack of technical means.
The rural Burkinabé population has begun adopting new techniques in order to improve the quality of their cultures. These techniques include: the construction of anti-erosive sites, the production of fertilizers, reforestations, and the traditional “zaï”.