Phase 2

Indigenous crop development in sahelian area of Burkina Faso
An alternative for on-farm agrobiodiversity management for local seed security

(BURKINA FASO)

PHASE II, 2000-2003
 

COORDINATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE PROJECT

Governing body of the project

The Project National Coordination is insured by a Coordinator appointed by INERA. A senior researcher (PH.D. Level) has been recruited to coordinate the sites and support research in biology. The Secretary of the Scientific Research Directorate execute typewriting services and are paid for their service. Likewise an assistant administrative officer helps the Coordinator in various tasks (various errands, concertation with INERA structures and others…).

The steering committee

 The steering Committee (SC) aims at developing guides necessary for a good implementation of the project, financial management, coordination, realisation of research activities. Therefore it controls the project management and keeps a watch on a strict implementation of the recommendations by the national coordination. The governing body of the steering committee is CNRST and the President is Delegate General of CNRST.

Besides the Steering Committee, two committees which tasks consist to work for the research activities implementation in the field have been set up.

The National Technical Committee (NTC)

 The National Technical Committee ensures the project technical and scientific follow-up for the execution of research tasks at the national level. It looks out for the proposal of research activities to be carried out, produces technical reports and results synthesis. The National Technical Committee includes all disciplines involved in the project and sites representatives and local committees.

The Local Technical Committee (LTC)

 The Local Technical Committee ensures the follow-up of research activities at the village and sites level.

It includes at each zone level 4 to 5 members :
  1. A Senior Technician/Head of the zone
  2. A NGO representative and/or village group
  3. A rural driving force (woman)
  4. An agricultural technician (at the local level).
The Basis Coordination Committee (BCC)

 This structure, which is created at the level of each village, aims at organizing the peasants for various activities, visits, observations and exchange in the field. It is made up of 3 – 4 people including at least a woman.

During year 2001 the LTC and BCC have attended five (05) workshops of PPS/PPB (Participatory Plant Selection/Participatory Plant Breeding) at every site level. Members of LTC have supervised BCC members to train peasant farmers in organizing sampling and scientific data gathering in the field. The same members have supervised the sensitization of populations about the importance of CBDC project.

CBDC Research sites

SITE 1 :   Pobé-Mengao
Villages : Pobé-Mengao, Titao, Noufoundou

SITE 2 :   Tougouri
Villages : Tougouri, Namassa, Toéyogdin

SITE 3 :   Thiougou
Villages : Thiougou, Médéga, Gnétaya

In each village three households at least were identified based on their cultural practices related to the studied species to be used as a test sample for the study. In each household there are 10 farmers in average. The population directly involved in the project is thus 10 x 9 = 90 farmers. This population is in its great part composed of Moose people but there are also Fulani, Bella, Dogon in the north and central-north, Bissa and Gourmantché in the east and central-east.

Site of Pobé-Mengao (Site 1)

Social and agro-écological characteristics

Located in the North of the country, the site has been chosen in the Soum Province. It is characterized by an average rainfall of 300 to 600 mm which lasts for 70 to 105 days per year. Its woody savannah made up of species such as Banalites aegytiaca and Pterocarpus lucens, Combretum nicranthum is considered as the extension lands for beans, millet and to a lesser extent, groundnut.

The Pobé site is populated by the Foulsé etchnic group who came from Kofa (a region of Mecca) in the years 1600-1700 and the Nioniosé etchnic group which represents the autochthnous’ population.

In the region, the seeds selection and conservation are made on the family common farm during the harvest by the wise man of the family or by a person committed to this task.

Problems encountered

The major problems encountered during this period are mainly related to the lack of logistic means and the delays in the acquisition of the funds : indeed the CBDC project has only one vehicle for at least five pluridisciplinary teams. As for the funds, CBDC has received nothing in 2000 and it is only from July 2001 that the funds (4000 $ US/DF, 5000 $ US/CBDC, 43,698.83 $ US/CBDC and 21,607 $ US/CBDC) have started to be transferred in CBDC account.

In addition to these problems, the project has encountered many difficulties on the field to collect information and data, as well as in the cultivars sampling because of a capricious rainy season which has disturbed the farmers’ calendar. There’s also the extreme poverty of the peasants added to the great famine of this year which haven’t permitted a good mobilization of village groups and the use of good seeds : the peasants have consumed the totality of their production.

However very good protocols and adapted technical forms have been developed.

In the field of PVS/PPB, the school farms were less big than those previously planned because of the famine which disturbs the farmers in their organization.

In the framework of information exchange with the Regional Coordination based in Harare (Zimbabwe), three problems appear :
  1. Since the Coordinator in Harare doesn’t understand French, it is the National Coordinator of the CBDC project in Burkina Faso who writes first all correspondence in French (used internally) and then this is translated into English before being sent out. That is why we are every time delating.
  2. The disturbances of e-mails between East and West Africa make that sometimes we have the impression that the burkinabe part doesn’t answer to correspondences. We highly appreciate the efforts made by the Regional Coordinator Dr MUSHONGA, but in return we ask him for more comprehension.
  3. The information asked to the Coordinator sometimes comes from several fronts and this constitutes extra work. We wish that the Regional Coordinator sends us the kind of report plan that he would wish us to send him. In addition the audits requested cannot often be produced in due time. The national coordinator is not supposed to interview as he is the person to be audited in reality.

Conclusion and perspectives

The philosophy of CBDC Program fits perfectly to the farmers’ needs in Burkina Faso. On the field we continue to execute the activities programmed, by laying emphasis on local seeds marketing, gender role, farmers training, and the support that they can benefit in order to manage agricultural biological diversity. For the coming days, it will be initiated the setting up of a local genes bank in Pobé–Mengao.

We will try to improve our collaboration with the Africa Regional Coordination and often translate the texts that are sent to him.