supporting good agricultural practices to enhance farmers livelihoods in burkina faso on-going

1. SupportingGood Agricultural Practices to enhance farmers livelihoods in Burkina Faso (on-going) Expert Consultation on Good Agricultural Practices 10-12 November, 2003, Rome

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3. Rationale Support on-going activities of FAO�s Priority Area for Interdisciplinary Action (PAIA) on �Integrated Production systems� 5 sites in Western Burkina: conservation agriculture, intercropping, livestock/crop interactions Participatory community planning training Funding: FAO-Netherlands Partnership Programme sub-theme �Building Livelihoods of the Food Insecure�

4. National Context Weak/ moderate access to international markets Commercialization problems for cereals and fruit &veg Govt, research & extension lack capacity Capacities of farmers organizations improving Risks of soil degradation Cotton: key commodity but vulnerability to world market prices, West-African sector in crisis Cotton : high policy attention, regional cooperation = support sustainable intensification + competitiveness, Otherwise: farmers will go out of business & deplete natural resources beyond repair

5. Approach GAP implementation at meso-level for a specific farming system (cotton-cereal-livestock) Understand �GAPs� in the context of farmers constraints & incentives, their livelihoods how do factors & actors of change in the farming system influence GAP adoption Multistakeholder approach Horizontal integration and vertical integration

6. Specific Objectives Enhance information sharing and consensus on �good farming systems practices� for cotton-livestock-cereal based systems Identify constraints, institutional support needs and interventions to promote GAPs

7. Process (mid 2003) Assemble information on GAPs and support systems Discussion groups in 5 villages Interviews with key resources persons (Min. of AG, Direction R�gionale de l�Agriculture, PNGT, INERA, farmers organizations UNPCB and CPF, NGOs, SOFITEX, SOPROFA,)..... Preliminary appraisal of knowledge systems & institutional capacities for supporting GAP uptake

8. FS context -Western Burkina Rain-fed agriculture dominant Moist & semi-arid savannahs Migrations, land tenure issues Conflicts farmers/ transhumant herders - Peulh, Fulani Livestock /crop integration Cotton drives farming system cash crop, input supply for cereals, animal traction, knowledge Dominant national player: cotton company SOFITEX Vulnerability to dependency on cotton and soil fertility � soil degradation in old cotton basin

9. Key findings for GAPs (1) Perception throughout chain on negative effects of current practices: soil fertility, human health/ pesticides Actors are familiar with the concept GAPs, but: extension GAPs differ from farmers GAPs farmers GAPs differ from how they actually farm - Incentives (prelimin.) : labour, yield, soil fertility - some GAPs: shallow tillage, animal manure - Constraints: labour, lack manure, fixed cost equipment/ investment, land tenure, knowledge

10. Key findings for GAPs (2) Institutional analysis (SWOT)- key actors of change on GAP : farmer org and research + cotton company (yield and credibility concern) Need better typology of farms and vulnerability analysis to understand incentives & constraints for GAP adoption

11. Process (Dec 2003, early 2004) Background studies on: farms systems categorization and vulnerability in cotton-livestock-cereal farming systems dynamics of farming systems intensification and linkages with off-farm activities

12. Process (Feb 2004) Multistakeholder workshop, Bobo-Dioulasso Discuss studies - farming systems driving forces Feed back on priorities from Community Planning Confront different perspectives on GAPs - farmers vs livestock herders vs farmers organizations vs researchers vs extension vs market actors Define acceptable GAPs and support systems which need to be in places Build joint business agenda for implementation Discuss possible follow-up with stakeholders

13. Thank you for your attention !