Field Actions Science Reports www.field-actions-sci-rep.net 1867-139X 1867-8521 2 1 2009 10.5194/facts-2-33-2009 http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/33/2009/ http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/33/2009/facts-2-33-2009.html http://www.field-actions-sci-rep.net/2/33/2009/facts-2-33-2009.pdf 33 39 2009-01-27 WÉGOUBRI, the sahelian bocage: an integrate approach for environment preservation and social development in sahelian agriculture (Burkina Faso) H. Girard zn-guie@zcp.bf Director of the pilot farm of Guiè, Association Zoramb Naagtaaba (AZN)/01 BP 551 Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso The NGO Terre Verte pursues the realisation of bocage perimeters (wégoubri in the mooré language) in Burkina Faso. They are an innovative concept of rural development that has been established in the 1990s in the experimental farm of Guiè and is now adopted in other experimental farms in Burkina Faso. <br><br> The deterioration of the rural landscape in the Sahel region has worsened in the last decades, endangering local populations. The creation of bocage perimeters in this rural landscape is a way to remediate problems linked to overly extensive agriculture. <br><br> Through a holistic approach to the problem, the experimental farm of Guiè has been able to integrate environmental preservation into the Sahel agriculture thanks to three axes of intervention: applied research, education and direct help to the peasants. An experimental farm relies on five technical teams, each supervised by a coordinator. <br><br> The concept is based on the creation of bocage perimeters in a mixed propriety regime, comprising individually owned plots and common grounds, managed by an association of beneficiaries. The result is a restored environment, in which agriculture is no longer tantamount to erosion and livestock farming to overgrazing, where trees and bushes are harmoniously integrated into the environment. <br><br> The increase in agricultural yields observed after a few years of soil restoration leads to the conclusion that those projects will be economically viable. A system of credits for farmers could allow the implementation of such a system, which represents the only solution for the millions of hectares of degraded soil in the Sahel region. Adger, W. N. and Brook, N.: Does global environmental change cause vulnerability to disaster?, CSERGE and Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK, 2002. Brooks, N., Gash, J., Hulme, M., Huntingford, M., Kjellen, B., Köhler, J., Starkey, R., and Warren, R.: Climate stabilisation and "dangerous" climate change: A review of the relevant issues, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK, 65 pp., 2005. Centre régional d'enseignement spécialisé en agriculture (CRESA): Rapport de synthèse – Impact des investissements dans la gestion des ressources naturelles (GRN) au Niger, 2006. Claussen, M., Brovkin, V., Ganopolski, A., Kutzbaki, C., and Petoukhov, V.: Climate change in northern Africa: the past is not the future, Climatic Change 57, 99–118, 2003. ECA: State of Environment in Africa, ECA/FSSDD/01/06-P, Sustainable Development Division, Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, 87 pp., 2001. Hulme, M., Doherty, R., Ngara, T., New, M., and Lister, D.: African climate change: 1900–2100, Climate Res., 17, 145–168, 2001. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Third assessment report, 2001. Maynard, K., Royer, J. F., and Chauvin, F.: Impact of greenhouse warming on the West African summer monsoon, Clim. Dynam., 19, 499–514, 2002. NewTree: www.newtree.org, last access: 16 December 2008. N'Tchayi, M. G., Bertrand, J. J., and Nicholson, S. E.: The diurnal and seasonal cycles of wind-borne dust over Africa north of the equator, J. Appl. Meteorol., 36, 868–882, 1997. Tarhule, A. and Lamb, P. J.: Climate research and seasonal forecasting for West Africans. Perception, dissemination, and use?, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., Boston, 8(12), 1741–1759, 2003. UNEP: Africa Environmental Outlook: Past, Present and Future Perspectives, UNEP, Nairobi, in Key Information Sheet 10/DFID, 2005 Vulnerability. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2002. UNFCCC: African Workshop on Adaptation, Accra, Ghana, 21–23 September 2006.