Typology of Farms and Farmers’ Perception of the Effects of Soil and Water Conservation Practices in Northern Burkina Faso

The continuous degradation of agroecosystem is a major concern for Sub-Saharan African countries, particularly Burkina Faso. To fight against this agroecosystem degradation, SWC such as stone rows, grass strips, zaï, filtering dikes, half-moons and agroforestry had been introduced in the Yatenga Province in Northern Burkina Faso several decades ago. Decades after introduction of SWC practices, a survey was conducted with 120 farmers equally distributed in four villages in the region to learn the farmers' perceptions of the effects of these practices on their farms. Results revealed a higher proportion of men in the study sites (63%) compared to women. The largest difference in proportions between surveyed men and women was observed in Bogoya where only 22% of the surveyed persons were women. The average years of the respondents across villages was 53 years with 57% of farmers being members of at least one farmer organization. The proportion of educated farmers was 73% and those who received training in SWC techniques represented 36%. Results indicated that white grain sorghum and pearl millet were the main crops produced by 95% of farmers and stone rows and zaï were the dominant SWC techniques used by 77-80% of farmers. Data from the survey indicated a fairly high proportion of big ruminant breeders and small ruminant breeders as well. In fact, 79% of farmers bred big ruminants and 78% bred small ruminants. The main beneficial and direct effects of SWC techniques perceived by farmers was their capacity to improve soil fertility, recover soil, reduce water run-off, and allow good water infiltration in the field, thus improving soil productivity. Farmers pointed out indirect effects of SWC practices on livestock by the regeneration and increase of grass, tree and small shrub biomass available to improve animal growth and health. However, some farmers commented that the long-term use of zaï could lead to soil degradation. The study showed that farmers did perceive the beneficial effects of SWC practices and that greater extension and adoption will only be achieved if they could still receive training, financial and equipment supports.