Watershed Level Baseline Assessment in the Nariarlé Watershed, Volta Basin, Burkina Faso

The assessment identifies four primary livelihood strategies in the Nariarlé watershed: rainfed agriculture, irrigated gardening, pastoralism, and fishing. Rainfed agriculture is the most dominant activity, covering 60-70% of the watershed, but suffers from low yields and high climatic risk. Irrigated gardening provides higher financial returns, with up to 90% of harvests sold, though it faces challenges from dam siltation and pesticide pollution. Pastoralism serves as a critical financial safety net, though grazing lands are being reduced by the expansion of Ouagadougou and agri-business. Fishing is a minor activity involving less than 3% of the population, threatened by invasive plants and non-compliant fishing nets.

• Rainfed agriculture is the primary livelihood strategy, occupying 60 to 70 per cent of the Nariarlé watershed. The most important crops are sorghum, pearl millet, cowpea, maize, groundnut, paddy rice, sesame, and bambara nut, with yields remaining very low, typically between 500 kg and 2 t ha-1.
• Irrigated gardening and agriculture, located near water reservoirs and dams, offer significantly higher productivity and income. Up to 90 per cent of these harvests are sold, with paddy rice yielding an average of 4 t ha-1 and generating earnings between 700 000 F and 1 000 000 Fcfa (1750 to 2500 USD) per hectare.
• Livestock keeping is the second most important activity, providing financial security and essential agricultural support such as plowing and organic fertilizer. However, available pasture is decreasing due to the expansion of Ouagadougou (the "Le grand Ouaga" project) and the sale of land for land-intensive agri-business.
• Fishing is a marginal activity involving less than 3 per cent of the population, primarily utilizing large dams as communal property. Fishers earn at least 2000 F cfa (5 USD) per day, but the activity is threatened by the use of prohibited pesticides and fishing nets with non-compliant meshes.
• Agricultural productivity in the watershed is constrained by climatic risks, lack of technical support, and high costs of inputs. While organic fertilizer from compost pits is used due to low financial capacity, improved seeds are rarely used in rainfed systems, though they are widely adopted in irrigated vegetable and rice cultivation.

APA

K., O., Pare, S., Sawadogo-Kabore, S., Cinderby, S., & de Bruin, A. (2012). Watershed Level Baseline Assessment in the Nariarlé Watershed, Volta Basin, Burkina Faso. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/nariarle-awm-baseline_120727.pdf

Chicago

K., Ouattara,, S. Pare, S. Sawadogo-Kabore, S. Cinderby, and A. de Bruin. Watershed Level Baseline Assessment in the Nariarlé Watershed, Volta Basin, Burkina Faso. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2012. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/nariarle-awm-baseline_120727.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=K. |first1=Ouattara, |last2=Pare |first2=S. |last3=Sawadogo-Kabore |first3=S. |last4=Cinderby |first4=S. |last5=de Bruin |first5=A. |title=Watershed Level Baseline Assessment in the Nariarlé Watershed, Volta Basin, Burkina Faso |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2012 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/nariarle-awm-baseline_120727.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{k2012watershed, author = {K., Ouattara, and Pare, S. and Sawadogo-Kabore, S. and Cinderby, S. and de Bruin, A.}, title = {{Watershed Level Baseline Assessment in the Nariarlé Watershed, Volta Basin, Burkina Faso}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2012}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/agwater/nariarle-awm-baseline_120727.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }