BARKA Foundation

In the rice sector, the adoption of new technologies such as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is one of the best options to improve productivity and increase rice production in Burkina Faso. High domestic demand leads to massive outflows of foreign currency every year. The objective of this study is to analyze the factors influencing the adoption of the System of Rice Intensification in the developed lowland of Songo II, a village located in the Pô commune in the Nahouri province. To achieve this goal, a survey was conducted in 2024 with twenty-five (25) rice farmers from the site using a standardized questionnaire. The sample size is 25 (n=25). The results showed certain advantages in practicing the intensive rice cultivation system, notably, the increase in yield (6222 kg/ha for the intensive rice cultivation system compared to 4444 kg/ha for the traditional system) and the reduction in the amount of seed used. However, a number of difficulties have been noted. Most of the respondents find sowing and thinning to one plant per hill quite tedious and slow, the time required for practicing the intensive rice cultivation system, the insufficiency of organic fertilizer, the lack of labor, and the absence of water to cope with climatic hazards. Moreover, the intensity of adoption of a new agricultural technology is positively influenced by its economic profitability (gross margin of 439,400 FCFA for the intensive rice farming system compared to 417,800 FCFA for the traditional system), the labor demand of the technological package, as well as the level of investment required for the farming technique and its ease of implementation, and contact with agricultural extension services. While yield increased significantly, the gross margin difference was narrow due to high labor costs. Given the benefits highlighted by producers and considering that the intensive rice cultivation system represents a technological package that already encompasses good agricultural practices, it could be recommended to rice growers to rely on the positive aspects identified to improve their usual practices. However, this approach must be considered within the context of adapting to their socio-economic and agro-ecological production conditions to facilitate its adoption.

Malaria vector control tools currently focus on insecticide treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying in malaria-endemic locations, but additional preventative strategies are needed to address protection gaps. Larval source management (LSM) includes larvicide application to aquatic habitat and an array of alternative forms of environmental efforts. An individual-based transmission model for falciparum malaria is used to demonstrate the theoretical benefit of suppressing malaria adult mosquito vector densities through LSM. The model simulates results of epidemiological trials from Western Kenya (a hilly area with papyrus swamps adjacent to human settlements and moderate to high perennial malaria transmission) and Côte d'Ivoire (an area with Sudanese climate, reducing vegetation cover and high transmission) that applied larvicide alongside ITNs, and investigates whether estimated changes in adult density can be used to project changes in human malaria. In the Western Kenya setting generalised linear models estimate 82% (90% credible intervals: 64% - 92%) and 88% (79% - 94%) reductions in the proportion of adult Anopheles funestus and Anopheles gambiae complex mosquitoes respectively as measured by CDC light traps. In Côte d'Ivoire, an 82% (56% - 93%) reduction of the dominant An. gambiae vector was estimated using standard window trap and pyrethrum spray catch. Both studies had variable village-level impacts. The transmission dynamics model predicted that these entomological impacts would result in a reduction in malaria prevalence in children of 6-months to 10-years of age of 48 - 72% in Kenya, and a 11 - 78% reduction in all-age clinical incidence across villages in Côte d'Ivoire, which are broadly consistent with the empirically observed outcomes. High heterogeneity between villages within the same study indicate that the relative or absolute reductions in mosquito adult density observed in these trials cannot be simply extrapolated to other regions. The LSM strategy adopted, unit area covered, and multiple environmental covariates all contribute to differences in indicators that could be used to assess entomological impacts and the corresponding epidemiological outcomes. This important malaria control tool was impactful across all sites examined, though further work is needed to understand how best to use this tool in the fight against malaria.

In market gardening, some common agricultural practices pose environmental and health concerns. Indeed, household waste, biomedical waste, sewage sludge and many others are used as fertilizer for production. Also the acidification of soils due to the mineral fertilizers used constitutes real problems. Lettuce is the fourth market garden product cultivated with approximately 8% of the cultivated areas. Its cultivation requires even more attention as it is consumed without any prior cooking. In addition, lettuce is considered one of the species that accumulates heavy metals. It is within this framework that this study takes place, the objective of which is to contribute to the improvement of lettuce production. Four types of fertilizers were used: cow dung, poultry manure, compost and NPK. The methodology used consisted of using disused of 1.5 liter cans, serving as containers. Each can has two openings serving as pockets into which coconut fibers constituting the substrate are introduced. The entire system is installed at a height of 1 m. At maturity, the average agro-morphological parameters measured give the following results: 38 leaves with compost and 35 with NPK, 17 cm and 14.13 cm in height respectively with compost and NPK, 14.13 cm with compost and 12.2 cm with NPK for leaf width, 15.13 cm with compost and 13.40 cm with NPK for leaf length. For total fresh biomass, we obtained an average mass of 156.86 g with compost and 147.2 g with NPK. Compost is the fertilizer best suited to the experimented system, followed by NPK. We did not observe any symptoms of leaf disease, proof that the device can help eradicate infections. Soilless agriculture can be a sustainable solution for food security in addition to other environmentally friendly agricultural systems.

Due to their profession's specificity, police officers are exposed to critical events that may lead to post-traumatic pathologies. Exposure is particularly increased in countries with high security challenges such as Burkina Faso which faces terrorism against which police officers are on the front line. Many police officers in Burkina Faso experience post-traumatic stress disorders such as Acute Stress Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as co-morbidities such as addiction, depression and anxiety. To deal with these post-traumatic pathologies, conventional psychotherapeutic approaches may be used either upstream to prevent symptoms occurrence, or downstream to treat them. Meanwhile, some police officers may use traditional therapies involving syncretic beliefs. This study aims to highlight clinical cases in which police officers use traditional therapies, by questionning their therapeutic effectiveness as well as the related implications. The data used were taken from clinical reports of police patients that received psychological care. The clinical cases were selected based on their relevance to illustrate traditional therapies used by police officers in post-traumatic pathologies treatment.

In the semi-arid environments of sub-Saharan Africa, the combined action of climatic factors and human activities degrades the vegetation cover, resulting in soils that are vulnerable to the risk of erosion. This is when micro-organisms of various kinds, known as biological crusts, colonise the soil surface, playing a part in the pedogenetic processes and combating soil degradation. The aim of this study is to investigate the spatio-temporal occupation dynamics of biological crusts in the Saria catchment using remote sensing and geographic information systems. The methodology is based on a geomatics approach that integrates the use of Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS satellite images, geographic information systems and fieldwork. The processing of Landsat-8 OLI satellite images and the pedomorphological and environmental characterization of soils have made possible to map mainly two types of soils i.e. leached tropical ferruginous soils and low-humidity hydromorphic soils with surface pseudogley. After this step, the field work enabled us to identify the land cover units in our study area from which the in-situ observations of soils surfaces revealed that biological crusts are more developed on the soils of the fallow plots (30% - 95%) than the bare (5% - 15%) and field soils (5% - 10%). The results of this study showed that the level of development of soils biological crusts is linked to the plots disturbance and its ages. In conclusion the use of remote sensing and geographic information systems is an effective and less expensive technique for mapping soil types and land cover units covered by biological crusts.

This article aims to build a bridge between storytelling and drama. More specifically, it analyzes the way in which the creators of awareness-raising theatres go about scripting certain contents of the oral tradition, in this case storytelling. Through this study, the aim is to explain how traditional storytelling is used as an inspiring material in theatrical creation. From the analysis of specific cases of shows entitled "Oyo: Force and Resistance" and "The King's Elephant", subjected to an intertextual analysis, we arrive at the conclusion that storytelling and awareness-raising theatre are two arts that have in common their intention to change society, on the one hand, and that the transition from traditional to scripted performance is the result of a process of creative transformation and artistic innovation, moreover.

The Pouni area is made up of basalts belonging to the Boromo belt, lamprophyres and granitoids. These geological formations are similar to geological formations of the same type in other regions of the Palaeoproterozoic domain of the Man/Leo shield. This study, which focused on the petrographic and geochemical characteristics of these geological formations, led to the following main conclusions: The lamprophyres are basic plutonic rocks that cut through other geological formations. The basalt belongs to the northern part of the Borormo belt and is thought to be a relic of overthickened oceanic plateaus. There are two groups of granitoid rocks. The granodiorite has a geochemical signature close to that of Archean TTGs and is metaluminous in character. It has a low potassium content. The minor element and rare earth element spectra indicate that it could be derived from partial melting of basic magmatic rocks. Biotite granites are peraluminous and highly potassic. Minor element contents and rare earth spectra indicate that they could be derived from partial melting of felsic materials. Geotectonic diagrams show that the granitoids identified in the Pouni zone were emplaced in an active tectonic context, similar to that of present-day subduction zones.

La dégradation de la fertilité des sols ainsi que la mauvaise répartition spatio-temporelle des pluies constituent des contraintes pour l’amélioration de l’agriculture burkinabè. Une expérimentation a été mise en place afin d’évaluer l’effet du Polyter sur la productivité du sorgho en station de recherche de Farako-Bâ. Le dispositif expérimental était en blocs de Fisher complètement randomisé, comprenant 7 traitements répétés chacun 4 fois avec un seul facteur étudié, le fertilisant hydrorétenteur. T0= Témoin absolu sans aucun apport, T1= NPK (150 kg/ha) + Urée 46% (50 kg/ha), T2= Fumure organique (5 t/ha), T3= Polyter (3g/poquet), T4= Fumure organique (5 t/ha) + NPK (150 kg/ha) + Urée 46% (50 kg/ha), T5= Polyter (2g/poquet) + NPK (150 kg/ha) + Urée 46% (50 kg/ha), T6= Fumure Organique (5 t/ha) + Polyter (2g/poquet) + NPK (150 kg/ha) + Urée (50kg/ha). Les paramètres chimiques du sol ainsi que les paramètres agronomiques du sorgho ont été évalués. Les résultats montrent que les teneurs en phosphore assimilable sont plus élevées dans le traitement T4 avec 4,36 mg/kg et faible dans le témoin T0 avec 1,47 mg/kg. Les teneurs en K disponible varient entre 61,35 mg/kg (T2) et 60,14 mg/kg (T6). Le rendement grains de sorgho issu du traitement T6 a significativement augmenté avec 2220 kg/ha par rapport à celui du sorgho témoin (T0) qui est de 750 kg/ha. par rapport à celui du sorgho témoin (T0). Le rendement paille s’est amélioré avec 4196 kg/ha en T6. Il serait intéressant de poursuivre cette étude dans d’autres zones pédoclimatiques afin de proposer des formules adaptées pour l’amélioration de la productivité du sorgho.

Wetlands are very important because of the wide range of ecosystem services they provide. Despite their ecological, social and environmental importance, these ecosystems are threatened and fragmented under the combined effects of climate change (CC) and man-made activities (MMA). Such a state of things could be exacerbated by the advent of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with its many implications. In order to help decision-makers take good decisions, the combined effect of CC, MMA and COVID-19 on the livelihoods of communities around wetland ecosystems have been reviewed based on available scientific knowledge. First, we analyzed the different concepts and theories underlying the wetlands-related studies and then summarized the merits and demerits of the different methodologies underlying wetland studies. The empirical evidences that exist in previous literatures have been highlighted. Similarly, common livelihood strategies for wetland communities in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have been highlighted. The diversity of wetlands’ functions and services makes them a source of livelihood, food security and poverty alleviation for riverside communities. However, these communities lack the knowledge and awareness to understand the impact of their activities and CC on their livelihoods. The review also helped to identify that, out of the three factors investigated, the livelihoods of rural wetland dwellers in SSA are mostly influenced by CC and MMA. However, climate change and COVID-19 remain life-altering transboundary threats that extend in space and time, with large uncertainties on wetlands communities livelihoods.