by J. Barron, J. Morris and I. Ouedraogo Presented at the Final Volta Basin Development Challenge Science Workshop, September 2013

1. A Partner
of
Agricultural Water Management Technology Expansion and
Impact on Crop Yields in Northern Burkina Faso (1980-
2010): A Synthesis of Various Evidence
Barron , J., Morris, J., Ouedraogo, I.
this work is based on the V1 ‘Targeting and scaling out’ project led by SEI in
partnership with INERA, University of Ouagadougou, CSIR-SARI and KNUST, and the
FP7 WHaTeR project in cooperation with Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm
University and INERA

2. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
MAIN MESSAGES
• Multiple evidence of province-scale adoption rates of at least 20-40%,
and a minimum of 10-20 % in other provinces with >700 mm since
1990s
• Regional cereal yields and adoption of soil water conservation and
small reservoir expansion have with similar rates of increase (ca 3%)
• The causality at scale between agricultural water management
adoption, crop yields and poverty /food security impacts needs further
evidence
• There are multiple methods to develop knowledge on adoption of
AWM technologies, but current data is not summarised for efficient use
in research or policy

3. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
BACKGROUND
Parts of Sudano-Sahel and Sahel have + 10 years of
‘re-greening –land degradation debate: are landscapes
changing by climate or by humans? And in which direction?
Douxchamps et al (2012): Little systematic evidence about successful scaling
out of AWM technologies

4. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
PURPOSE of STUDY
Quantify the areal extent of AWM adoption at sub-national scale (region)
in northern Burkina Faso
Assess the impact of AWM expansion on crop production and poverty
(causal link)

5. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
APPROACH
Different sources of data:
National statistics (agricultural census)
Remote sensing analysis (ASTER)
Peer-reviewed and grey literature
Collation to region level,
comparison of trendlines
of normalised data

6. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
1. RESULTS: Remote sensing (2006 ASTER data)
Ouahigouya (%) Kaya (%)
Settlement 2 0
Vegetation cover 40 32
Water body 1 1
Bare soil 2 6
SWC/WHT 32 30
Cropland 24 31

7. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
2.RESULTS: Literature
MAPS of current setting
Table 4: Summary of the area of SWC measures in use, extracted from peer-reviewed and grey literature
Time period Area of SWC
reported, total (ha)
Provinces covered in
project/ report
Area of SWC reported, weighted
per region (ha)
% SWC reported of cultivated
area, per region
Literature source - SWC
1983 - 1989 8 000
Stone bunds
Yatenga 8 000 4.54 Critchley & Graham 1991;
Atampugre 1993
1988 - 2003 89 600
Stone bunds
Bam; Namentenga;
Sanmatenga; Passore;
Yatenga; Zondoma;
Boulkiemde; Sanguie
Centre-Nord: 32 990
Nord: 36 308 Centre-
Ouest: 20 302
Centre-Nord : 11.6%
Nord : 11.2%
Centre-Ouest : 5.2%
IFAD 2004, Intermediate report
1988 – 2004 60 000
Stone bunds, zai,
earth dams
Bam, Kourwéogo,
Oubritenga
Centre-Nord: 28 840
Plat.-Central: 31 160
Centre-Nord: 10.1%
Plat.-Central: 19.0%
PATECORE 2004, Final report
1970 - 2011 30 000 – 60 000
(estimated)
Zai
Northwestern Burkina Faso
– Nord? Yatenga mostly
Nord: 9 – 18% Sawadogo, H. 2011
2004, 2006 No area given
zai and stone bunds
Tougou, Yatenga 49-60% of farmers use SWC on at
least one field
Barbier et al (2009)
1970 - 2009 200 000 – 300 000
All SWC
Central Plateau – Nord,
Centre-Nord, others ?
33 – 39% Reij et al. 2009
Mid 1980s -
2005
100 000
Stone bunds
Northern part of Central
Plateau – Nord only?
31% Reij, C, Tappan, G. & Belemvire, A.
2005
2003 130 000 Central Burkina Faso Pretty, J.N, J.I.L Morison, R.E Hine
2003
* The report on the Agricultural Survey 2004/2005 is the latest report available online, and therefore was used for all the publications from 2004 onwards.

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3.RESULTS: Census
25
36
25
28
18
15

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4. RESULTS: yield curves 1986-2012
Slope: ~0.03 – 0.04
r2: ~0.7-0.8

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4. RESULTS: yield curves 1986-2012
Sahel Nord Centre-Nord Plateau-Central
1984 1994 20041984 1994 2004

11. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
LESSONS
• Better knowledge on AWM in use is needed for setting
research and development agenda
• There is knowledge but not synthesised in an accessible
form
• AWM technology in use beyond documented cases
• More work on causality pathways between AWM Food
security and poverty alleviation is needed to scale

12. Andes • Ganges • Limpopo • Mekong • Nile • Volta
We thank all contributors:
VBDC colleagues, and FP7 WHaTeR colleagues
funders