GEO-6 for Youth: Africa
Improving adaptation to climate change in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa whose economy is highly dependent on agriculture and livestock. With Burkina Faso considered one of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) (FAO 2014), the constant pressure from human activities such as overexploitation of land, deforestation, and rural-urban migration threaten its vulnerable socio-economic situation (Oumarou 2011).
In 2012, the government of Burkina Faso implemented a National Climate Change Adaptation Plan (NAP). The NAP is a framework for the operationalization of all the international conventions ratified by the country. This corresponds to the objectives of the UNFCCC (Burkina Faso, Ministère de l’Environnement et des Ressources Halieutiques 2015).
In line with Burkina Faso’s NAP, the Burkinabè community of Zandoma has embraced better agricultural techniques that can withstand erratic rainfall (Fluet 2006). They include drought tolerant animals, improved seeds and tillage equipment. However, Zandoma has also seen a gradual decline in cotton cultivation since this is a crop that requires abundant rainfall and large areas for cultivation (Fluet 2006).
In addition, young Burkinabe farmers have adopted new large-scale, land-use planning techniques. These include the introduction of Zai practices (Amanda, Glennie, Intscher, Ali and Morin 2014), the half-moons (Global Water Partnership [GWP] 2010), stone bunds, organic manure, hedgerows, rainwater storage wells, and drip irrigation (Association pour la recherche et la formation en agroécologie [ARFA] 2011). This mode of adaptation is taught to farmers through agricultural cooperatives, the vast majority of which are financed by government projects or by NGOs.
Zai entails digging a grid of planting pits that increase soil fertility in diverse ways. Apart from capturing windblown soil and organic matter, the pits also attract termites that then dig channels that enhance soil architecture, water infiltration and retention. In addition, the termites digest organic matter, consequently increasing the availability of nutrients to plant roots (Ouedraogo and Sawadogo 2001).
As the second NAP pilot project, the Livestock Climatic Insurance aims at reconstituting livestock breeding centres while providing support for the production of milk and eggs after major climatic events. Accordingly, young breeders go for smaller livestock that are less demanding in pastures and more resistant to water stress (GWP 2010).
There is also support for young people funded by the Quebec government through its green fund. A good example is a project on building low-carbon, green buildings by employing Nubian Vaults (Unisfera 2019). Another example is ‘your future climate’, which was financed by the International Secretariat for Water (ISW). It seeks to enable young people from rural and peri-urban areas of Burkina Faso to become actors of change and promoters of new ideas for adaptation in the agricultural and forestry sectors (Canada, Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques 2015).
Finally, the renewable energy sector also offers enormous job creation opportunities for young people. This potential has been further unlocked by the parliament of Burkina Faso which voted to liberalize the production and sale of energy in Burkina Faso opening a market of US$2.2 million in private sector opportunities (Mbaye 2017). The direct consequence of this liberalization was the inauguration of the Zagtouli PV solar power plant (maximum capacity of 33 MW) on 29 November 2017. The project carried out through PPP with French (Cegelec) and German (SolarWorld) companies. The construction and maintenance of this solar power plant offers Burkinabe youth in the field real opportunities for green jobs (jeuneafrique 2017).
In addition to the Zagtouli Solar Power Plant, there is also a biogas power station in Kossodo district of Ouagaoudou. With a total capacity of 1.4 MW, this plant created 50 permanent jobs and provides electricity to nearly 22,700 households (Kindo 2015).
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