Water Woes

Hey there everyone!

So it has now been almost two weeks that I've been in Burkina Faso and I'm really enjoying life here so far. Unfortunately I've been finding it difficult to write new blogs from here: not because I have nothing to write, but because for some reason I have not been able to access my blog very easily. As a result I may have my sister post some updates for me throughout the next eight months. Still I will try to add them myself whenever possible.

Anyways, for school one of our assignments is to write a page on some issue in our country every other week. This week I chose to write a bit about the water challenges being faced in Burkina and how my work while I am here relates to this issue. About 80-90% of the population in Burkina makes a living performing subsistance agriculture so the issue of water is really important here. Sometimes I will post my bi-weekly here while other times I may not, but because this one talks a bit more about what I will be doing I thought it would be interesting to share. Enjoy!

During our first two weeks in Burkina Faso, Jeannette and I have had the opportunity to visit three different Burkinabé villages around the town of Yako. Last week we visited Tindila with a group of students from l’Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec who will be working over the next four months to build an irrigation system for the women in the village. While two of the students already had the opportunity earlier in the year to visit the site and had seen similar irrigation systems in surrounding villages, others also wanted to visit villages where the irrigation system had been implemented. As a result, we were able to accompany three of the students along with four women from Tindila, our boss, and two other SEMUS employees to two of the villages where SEMUS is working. In Noussou we visited a fenced compound where women were able to grow various crops without worrying about animals entering and eating the crops. In Koassa we were also able to see a similar compound where an irrigation system had recently been installed to provide easier access to water for the women working the land in the area. The students from Quebec are looking to replicate this system in Tindila by the end of December.

Burkina Faso experiences three growing seasons. Depending on the season, they choose to grow different vegetables. Currently, we are nearing the end of the wet growing season which lasted from July to September during which corn, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, and gumbo were grown and preparing for the dry growing season which lasts from November to February. During this time, rain is non-existent which means that all plants must be watered either manually or through irrigation systems. Farmers generally choose to grow high amounts of onions at this time with fewer tomatoes, eggplant, or potatoes. The third season starts in March and lasts until mid-June and is considered the“intermediate growing season”.

Over recent years there have been increasing occurrences of drought and erratic rainfall in Burkina Faso. Last year was particularly devastating for many Burkinabé farmers. While a typical rainy season lasts from May or June to mid-October, the rains in 2011 were sparse and failed to replenish the water supply needed to support crops throughout the dry season. While irrigation systems are helpful to women in the area by reducing the amount of manual work required to grow crops, I personally think it will be more effective to introduce greater water conservation efforts in this area.

On Thusday morning we met with representatives from five surrounding villages to discuss the past year’s growing season, look at challenges that were faced, and consider the upcoming dry season. One of the recurring themes was the lack of water to sufficiently water crops in the past year. For example, one of the communities has a fenced compound of two hectares for cultivation, but 300-400 square meters of the area was not used because of insufficient water resources. Even if this village had an established irrigation system it would not increase the available amount of water. The crops that farmers choose to grow in each season reflect their recognition of the water shortage problem. Three of the five villages intend only to plant onions over the dry growing season as they require very little water while the other two will plant onions as well as a few other vegetables. Nevertheless more effort needs to be made to increase the resilience of these farmers to recurring drought.

In the area around Ouahigouya (which is about an hour to the northwest of Yako), efforts are being made to introduce water conservation methods on farms. One approach is the use of furrows and ridges to channel the water and help it to remain near the surface for an extended period of time. SEMUS has also been working to promote this practice in areas surrounding Yako. Nevertheless, this process requires that farmers have the tools required to make the furrows which can be a significant investment. Another technique that is being promoted both in Ouahigouya and by SEMUS is the use of compost on fields. SEMUS has worked in various villages to build up to 30 composters per village and is encouraging people to compost animal and plant waste to be used as fertilizer.

Despite the advances that have been made in sustainable agriculture over the past few years, it is evident that challenges are still being faced by farmers in northern Burkina Faso. More training and adaptation is required before farmers will be able to withstand droughts like the one experienced in 2011. And despite the high amounts of water received in this year’s rainy season, one of the most difficult challenges is being faced over the next month as people need to make their food supplies last until the harvest in October. I’m eager to be working with SEMUS over the next eight months in the sustainable agriculture department as we look to address water shortages and other challenges being faced by Burkinabé farmers. It is difficult to determine the greatest needs of agricultural workers in Burkina Faso, but I personally believe that water shortages will be one of the most important challenges to address over my time here.