Land Restoration and Climate-Smart Agriculture in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa, is experiencing severe impacts of climate change: increasingly extreme rainfall and flooding events, coupled with prolonged droughts. The result is the complete devastation of agriculture, with 46% of the country’s arable land now degraded. Year on year, 105,000 to 250,000 hectares of land degrades, threatening food security, health, and rural communities’ well-being.

These challenges have also displaced many Burkinabe, especially as 80% of the population relies on agriculture. Displacement rates have surged by over 7,000% since 2018, making Burkina Faso one of the fastest-growing displacement regions globally.

In response, Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Finance, supported by the NDC Partnership, are proposing a land restoration project using nature-based infrastructure (NBI). Targeting the Sahel, Soucie du Mouhoun, Eastern, and Cascades regions, the project aims to regenerate 37% of the country’s land, benefiting over 26,000 households and indirectly aiding over 600,000 individuals. The initiative also focuses on gender­ responsive NBI, supporting nearly 8,000 women.

Using spatial analysis, climate data, excel-based modeling, and financial analysis, this integrated cost-benefit analysis demonstrates the massive potential of NBI to restore land and combat desertification, promote sustainable agricultural practices and reduce climate-related displacement, overall aiding communities with climate change adaptation.

We assessed three potential scenarios:

• Nature-Based Infrastructure scenario, consisting of tree planting, climate-smart agricultural practices, and the establishment of combined Agro-Silvo-Pastoral areas, which integrate agriculture, grasslands, fruit crops (mango and citrus), and livestock production. This focuses on reducing land erosion, increasing agricultural productivity, and improving water retention in the soil.
• Hybrid infrastructure scenario, consisting of soil restoration practices and climate-smart agriculture plus a solar-powered irrigation pumping system, aiming to combat soil erosion, improve water management, and achieve higher agricultural yields and income.
• Grey infrastructure scenario, which includes water storage and irrigation.

Our assessment found that nature-based and hybrid interventions perform better than the grey infrastructure alternative, while delivering further socioeconomic benefits. For every 1 USD invested, NBI could deliver USD 14.8 in benefits. This implementation of NBI can be replicated, scaling across Burkina Faso and beyond, to effectively combat droughts, desertification and sustain rural livelihoods.