Could Burkina Faso one day reach food self-sufficiency?
AB: Actually, we’re already there, we just need an organisation to improve the management of small-holders’ harvest, where forecasts are not always available. After the harvest, everyone just wants to rest and attend to things like funerals. With such a long break (there is only one rainy season, the three months from July-September), it is difficult to make any predictions. As a result, grain stores are not integrated into a properly managed distribution channel. This is why we need regulation to help small producers. IPS: What are you doing to ensure producers can work all year long without waiting for the rain? AB: Irrigation is an important part of our agricultural policy, because with our climate (700 – 1200mm of rain each year in Burkina Faso), if everything hinged on the rain falling, nothing would go as planned if the rainy season wasnt good. So some free time must be used (for farmers) to get back into production – which cannot be done without proper water management. It is ex
