Case study: Burkina Faso
Using stone walls and robust trees to combat erosion Already for the third time in a decade, the people in the Sahel are threatened with acute hunger. The reason for the food crisis is a lack of rainfall and the severe decline in crop yield that it has brought about. That people in the Sahel should be so vulnerable to drought is also due to massive environmental degradation caused by excessively intensive land use. For as a rule, a poor peasant family can only till 1.5 hectares of cropland, whereas a rich peasant family using oxen can manage up to three hectares. Most of the peasants have to make very intensive use of their land and are unable to maintain the fallow periods that are vital for the soil to regenerate. The result is a decline in vegetation or even its complete disappearance, precipitation draining off fast and directly on the surface, water shortage, soil erosion or soil filling with sand and sand carried by the wind destroying infrastructure. The land becomes infertile and barren, and what is known as desertification sets in. A dramatic vicious cycle is triggered, with ever less fertile land being available that necessitates a more and more intensive use of the still existing fertile land, the result being that here too, the degradation process takes over more and more rapidly. Welthungerhilfe has already been working together with its partners to combat desertification in the Sahel for years. Thanks to an appropriate and sustainable use of the water and soil resources, the environmental situation is improving. For example, in Burkina Faso, in cooperation with the organizations “Association Zood Nooma”, “Association de Développement Sougri Nooma” and “Association Lutte contre la Désertification”, soil and water retaining measures are being carried out together with the peasants. In all, these measures reach a total of 1.3
million inhabitants in the four provinces of Bam, Sanmantenga, Ganzourgou and Oubritenga. Here too, a high population density, the excessive use of cropland and pastureland and the decline in annual precipitation levels – in combination with more frequent heavy rain – have led to an erosion of land used for farming. Fertility has declined, and ever larger areas of cropland have to be cultivated to attain the same yields. These areas are gained by clear-cutting the savannah, which additionally robs the soils of their natural protection – the onset of the disastrous cycle of desertification. The consultants from the partner organizations and so-called village trainers train the peasants in constructing and maintaining mechanical and biological erosion protection systems. The peasants join forces to build stone walls and smaller dams, and they plant them with the robust and drought-resistant Jatropha trees and shrubs. Held back by the stone walls, strong rainfall only drains off slowly from the fields, and small erosion channels and holes see to it that water uptake by the soil is improved. In this manner, the groundwater reserves are replenished. Planting the walls also reduces erosion and has a favorable effect on the microclimate. Village committees are established in order to develop this process sustainably. Finance required for necessary investments is also raised by the communities themselves. The dissemination of soil conservation methods is performed chiefly via multipliers from village groups who train other farmer organizations. The partner organizations are ready to provide any advice needed. The project has already shown success during the food crisis in the Sahel. Many of the peasants benefiting from the Welthungerhilfe project have had better harvests and are thus less vulnerable to the drought.
WorldRiskReport 2012 ] 47