COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DRYLAND MANAGEMENT

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DRYLAND MANAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF NAAM GROUP IN YATENGA REGION OF BURKINA FASO, WEST FRICA

Table of Content

Chapter 1: Introduction3

Research Background4

Case Overview7

Purpose of the Study10

Chapter 2: Literature Review11

Study site27

Chapter 3: Methodology32

Sensitisation of community members33

Training of field staff33

Identification of alternative land use options34

To assess the existing situation34

To identify alternative land use options35

To identify synergy or competition between alternative land use options36

Feedback meeting38

Revisiting38

Chapter 4: Result and Discussion40

Diagnosis40

Use of agricultural land40

Use of natural and fallow land40

Socio-economic conditions41

Village workshop42

Intensification of agricultural production48

Adaptation of crop rotations to the temporal distribution of labour availability50

Anti-erosion and soil fertility measures50

Management of grazing zones50

Spatial analysis of land use options51

Return visit61

Discussion61

Participatory approach61

Results of village workshop63

Community land use mapping65

Return visit67

Chapter 5: Conclusions69

References72

Chapter 1: Introduction

Desertification, or land degradation in dry climates, is a problem estimated to directly affect about one sixth of the world's population. Desertification's effects are particularly severe in certain countries of Africa and Asia. Its indirect effects, in terms of contributing to poverty problems and human migration, are also significant. Recent phenomena, such as intensive cash cropping, large scale human migration, and population pressure contribute to the problem. Extractive activities, such as mining and timber production, can affect watersheds and result in deforestation and ensuing desertification. Desertification can be a problem even in places which receive significant amounts of seasonal rainfall, as population pressures lead to soil degradation during the dry season, with consequentially greater pressure on the remaining arable land. Since the causes of desertification include human activity as well as weather and climaterelated changes, it is a problem that often can be prevented, alleviated, and even reversed through concerted human efforts. Efforts to combat desertification are underway in many places. Some of these have produced good results; others, despite significant investment of resources, have been less successful. The reasons for success or failure of different programs to counter desertification are not well understood. One of the factors that has been suggested as a critical ingredient is the direct involvement in anti-desertification programs of local communities and citizens living in affected areas. But the nature of the local participation that may make anti-desertification programs more successful is not well documented.

Research Background

Due to several reasons, such as climatic variability, low soil fertility and population growth, food security problems are a major issue in sub-Saharan Africa. The Sahel was hit by disastrous droughts in the 1960s and 1970s, sparking the concept of the Sahara desert advancing into the Sahel region, and bringing the region to the forefront of scientific interest (Hutchinson et al., 2005). Although it has later been shown that these ideas about desertification where not correct ([Thomas, 1997] and [Herrmann and Hutchinson, 2005]), that the droughts of the 1970s were part of climatic variability ([Tiffen and Mortimore, 2002] and [Le Houérou, 1996]), and that there has been a 'greening' of the Sahel since the 1980s (Hutchinson et al., 2005), these droughts of the 1970s showed the fragility of the region both in ecological and economic ...