BURKINA FASO/ CLIMATE CHANGE

Farmers in Burkina Faso’s Sahel Region wait for seasonal rains to start, the weather patterns have become way unpredictable for them to predict any longer. In northern Burkina Faso, Sibiri Kebre like most farmers depends on rain-fed agriculture to feed his family and earn a living. In recent years, he’s begun practicing water and soil retention techniques that are helping him adapt to changing weather patterns. IFAD

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:04:20
• Production Date: 5 July 2013
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT - IFAD
• Subject Topical: DEVELOPMENT; AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; FISHING; CLIMATE CHANGE
• Geographic Subject: BURKINA FASO
• MAMS Id: U130705d

Description

STORY: BURKINA FASO/ CLIMATE CHANGE
TRT: 4.20
SOURCE: IFAD
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: FRENCH / MOSSI / ENGLISH

DATELINE: 24- 29 JUNE 2013, YAKO, BURKINA FASO

Shotlist

1. Med shot, Sibiri Kebre
2. Wide shot, tree pruning
3. Med shot of Zoenabou, Kebre’s wife
4. Tilt down, Kebre cutting wood
5. Med shot, Zoenabout cutting wood
6. SOUNDBITE (Mossi) Sibiri Kebre, farmer:
“The weather is changing and we are worried. Every day we must think about how we will survive and what we can do. It affects our lives, it affects the environment, trees are disappearing, there are no forests and there’s a loss of soil fertility. So it’s a big problem.”
7. Wide shot, woman on bicycle
8. Wide shot, field and village
9. Wide shot, village and bicycle
10. Med shot, village with animals
11. SOUNDBITE (English) John Weber, World Agroforestry Centre:
“Greater variability means you might get 20 to 25 per cent of the annual rainfall in one afternoon. So everything that you’ve planted is washed away. You have to plant again but it is already too late because the growing season is only about four months long and the plants, the millet, the sorghum, typically take three months.”
12. Wide shot, ploughing field
13. Med shot, dry ground
14. Wide shot, woman and children walking on dry ground
15. SOUNDBITE (Mossi) Sibiri Kebre, farmer:
“Ten years ago there was drought and serious famine. I had to sell everything I had including my donkey cart in order to buy food for the family. Since then I’ve learned techniques that have helped improve soil fertility.”
16. Wide shot, tassa circular planting pits with Kebre and wife
17. Tilt up, from tassa circular pits to Kebre
18. Med shot, stone wall
19. Pan left, along wall
20. Wide shot, digging half moon planting pits
21. Med shot, half moon in soil
22. Med shot, unloading manure for half moon pits
23. Med shot, woman compacting manure in half moon pit
24. Med shot, woman compacting manure
25. Wide shot, half moon planting pits
26. Med shot, Zoenabou spreading leaves
27. Med shot, bundle of fuel wood
28. Wide shot, Zoenabou walking away with wood
29. Med shot, Kebre weaving
30. Wide shot, Kebre weaving
31. SOUNDBITE (French) Julien Lompo, Coordinator, PDRD:
“The central plateau zone had experienced a drop in production. On average the harvest was 300 or 400 kilograms per hectare or in the best situation 600 kilograms. Today with these techniques production has been raised to 1,400 and 1,500 kilograms per hectare. So you see the difference. It’s more than doubled.”

32. Pan right, green forest
33. Med shot, green forest
34. Med shot, water seedlings
35. Med shot, water and seedlings
36. Wide shot, Kebre at nursery
37. Med shot, Kebre
38. Med shot, Kebre taking seedlings
39. Wide shot, farmers put manure in tassa circular pits
40. Med shot, farmers putting manure in pits
41. Med shot, space around millet plants
42. Med shot, millet plant

Storyline

Last week in Burkina Faso’s Sahel region, farmer Sibiri Kebre waited anxiously for seasonal rains to start. In the past, the rainy season began in June like clockwork but now farmers like Kebre say global climate changes are making weather patterns far less predictable.

SOUNDBITE (Mossi) Sibiri Kebre, farmer:
“The weather is changing and we are worried. Every day we must think about how we will survive and what we can do. It affects our lives, it affects the environment, trees are disappearing, there are no forests and there’s a loss of soil fertility. So it’s a big problem.”

Like most people living in this part of Burkina Faso, Kebre, his wife Zoenabou and their three children rely on rain-fed agriculture to grow food and earn a living. But according to John Weber from the World Agroforestry Centre in Mali, the challenge for farmers is not only that the volume of rain is shrinking but that it’s also more variable.

SOUNDBITE (English) John Weber, World Agroforestry Centre:
“Greater variability means you might get 20 to 25 per cent of the annual rainfall in one afternoon. So everything that you’ve planted is washed away. You have to plant again but it is already too late because the growing season is only about four months long and the plants, the millet, the sorghum, typically take three months.”

The Sahel is an eco-zone that stretches across northern Africa, creating a transition from the Sahara Desert in the north to the Sudanian Savannas in the south. Soil fertility is extremely poor and with just 300 to 500 millimetres of rainfall per year, even the smallest changes in weather can have huge impacts.

SOUNDBITE (Mossi) Sibiri Kebre, farmer:
“Ten years ago there was drought and serious famine. I had to sell everything I had including my donkey cart in order to buy food for the family. Since then I’ve learned techniques that have helped improve soil fertility.”

To help farmers adapt to climate changes, the UN’s International Fund for Agriculture Development or IFAD has funded a number of projects that train farmers in soil and water retention techniques.

Like these half-moon shaped pits being dug into sun-baked soil. When the rain comes they hold moisture more effectively and the manure added to the bottom increases soil fertility.

Even tiny seeds remaining in the manure from plants eaten by the animals help to regenerate local species of trees which, in turn, improve soil conditions for crops.

Other techniques include digging circular planting pits called tassas, building stone walls that prevent water runoff and planting more trees.

Zoenabou Sankaran (Kebre’s wife) prunes young “bagana” trees growing in a field that will soon be planted with millet. The leaf litter left behind improves the soil’s nutrients. The tree’s pods are also used for animal feed. Later, Kebre uses the bark to tie straw together for weaving.

IFAD’s programme coordinator says more than 150,000 hectares of land have been recovered using these techniques, which are not only helping farmers adapt to climate change but increase their harvests.

Julien Lompo is Coordinator of the Sustainable Rural Development Progamme (PDRD)

SOUNDBITE (French) Julien Lompo, Coordinator, PDRD
“The central plateau zone had experienced a drop in production. On average the harvest was 300 or 400 kilograms per hectare or in the best situation 600 kilograms. Today with these techniques production has been raised to 1,400 and 1,500 kilograms per hectare. So you see the difference. It’s more than doubled.”

From one of the few high spots near the town of Yako, it’s evident what kind of impact farmers here are having on the landscape. Yet farmers and scientists agree there’s no room for complacency. In this part of the Sahel scientists predict rainfall will continue to decrease to around 310 millimetres per year from an already low average of 500 millimetres.

Weather patterns are continuing to change and as they do farmers must continue to find new ways to adapt if they are to have any hope of surviving over the long term.

In the meantime, when the rain finally comes this year, farmers like Kebre will be ready.