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The poor are entitled to more respect About a month ago I was contacted by an FAO official on posting in Ouagadougou. His is in charge of an emergency project aimed at helping the most destitute farmers. The project area extends over several provinces, which have been declared priority areas. Among them is the province of Sanguié, near Koudougou. The project co-ordinator had called to see me to present the project and ask me to help him trace the 600 poorest farmers in Sanguié.
The project mainly consists of the distribution of enhanced sorghum seeds. I pointed out that around Koudougou soils have often become impoverished. And that the poorest among the farmers were certainly those who had the most degraded soils. To offer enhanced seeds to them, without any preparation, would be useless. I instead suggested that the FAO turn to those among the poor farmers who had adopted the Zaï technique. Perhaps you are as unfamiliar with this as my host. Here is a short summary. A good cultivation technique: the Zaï In Burkina Faso, in particular in the North, more and more farmers adopt the Zaï technique, developed in the Yatenga province in the North. It has proven valid, even when the rains are delayed or even lacking. With good rainfall the yield is very good. This technique is appropriate for enhanced seeds, which require nutritious soil. Before the rain Farmers scoop out holes in the soil in orderly lines and at adequate intervals, as in preparation for sowing. They enlarge the holes to roughly the size of a milk calabash (around 25 cm in diameter) only when they are to start sowing. They fill the holes with well matured manure or compost and cover them up with the excavated soil. They sow immediately, if the rains are about to start. Or they sow after the first rainfall.
Why is this technique good in areas with scarce rainfalls ? The holes absorb the water from the first rains, It does not run off on the surface but is captured and keeps the soil humid. Compost or mature manure are also good for retaining water. There is less evaporation and drying out takes longer. Planted crops do not suffer too much, even if it does not rain for several days. The compost and manure are good nutrients for the plants: Young millet, sorghum or maize stems will grow quickly. In the North of Burkina, and even at the centre, there if often a shortage of water. Therefore more and more farmers now use this technique, called “Zai¨” in Yatenga, where it was first adopted . |
My host replied that he worked for an emergency aid programme and not for development. That he would be unable to target only farmers planting in Zaï pits. I told him: “That is quite a pity. The urgent need for Sanguié farmers is not to have enhanced seed quality but to learn how to nourish their soils. Following the pressure of population growth, the practice to lay fallow has been abandoned. Nothing has replaced it. . Ordinary seeds can no longer yield as usual. Your enhanced seeds will not find the nutrients they need to develop their potential fully. On the contrary, they are more demanding and therefore more vulnerable.” The answer was: “At any rate, an enhanced seed is better than an ordinary one.” “ Unfortunately not in every circumstance”. While saying this my thoughts also went to the “super cows” – the Brazilian Gira offered as a “present” to farmers in Fada N’Gourma - dead in less than two months. I went on to say that by keeping the enhanced seeds for farmers working in Zaï, it would have been possible to see this technique, and the interest in enhanced seeds, make rapid progress in the region. If farmers would have seen good results with cultivation in Zaï and using enhanced seeds, poverty could have been kept at bay. I was told that this was not possible. We departed on that note. I had hardly got into my car, when it occurred to me that I had not pushed my line of thought far enough. In fact, such a programme could well make Sanguié farmers turn away from enhanced seeds for a good many years. The farmers who had had the “privilege” to be the lucky recipients of the emergency relief action and enhanced seeds, have every probability of seeing an even worse harvest than in previous years. They will have no wish to spend money on this type of seeds in the future. The poor are entitled to more respect. Maurice Oudet Director, SEDELAN Koudougou, June 16th, 2009 |
