BURKINA FASO: Farmers act on climate change – Desertification is spreading
OUAGADOUGOU, 20 January 2010 (IRIN): Disappointed by the “failure” of the Copenhagen talks to adequately help poor countries adapt to climate change, the Burkina Faso government and farmers are working to adjust farming techniques to changing weather patterns.
– Despite the failure of Copenhagen we must follow adaptation at our own cost because we have been experiencing the impacts of climate change in Burkina for several years, and they are getting worse, Bassiaka Dao, confederation of farmers in Burkina Faso (CPF) president, told IRIN.
Dao said the 10 billion US dollar (52 milliarder DKR) that rich nations agreed to provide annually to developing countries to help mitigate (lindre/modvirke) climate change effects was insufficient. The UN said at the Copenhagen meetings that 25 billion to 50 billion dollar per year would be required.
Impact
Over recent years the rains have begun and ended later than usual in Burkina Faso, continuing into October though September is traditionally harvest time, according to Dao.
The rains are also increasingly heavy, leading to soil erosion and flash floods, according to World Bank natural resource management specialist Emmanuel Nikiéma. Some 22.200 hectares of land were flooded in 2009 according to the Ministry of Agriculture.
– The rain comes in torrents, with the capacity to flood a field in 15 minutes, Dao told IRIN.
Meanwhile desertification, long a problem in the north, has now spread in pockets to the south, Nikiéma said.
Longer rains mean crops risk rotting. Forty percent of the cowpea crop and much of the sorghum (durra) harvest rotted in 2009, Dao said.
Farmers need more outside help to help adapt to these new conditions, he said.
Through its National Action Adaptation to Climate Change programme, the government has channeled 3 million dollar (ca. 15,5 mio. DKR) to help people adapt in the farming, livestock, forestry and water resource sectors.
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Se også artikel tidligere i serien om dansk landbrugsbistand til programsamarbejdslandet Burkina Faso:
http://www.u-landsnyt.dk/nyhed/22-11-09/debat-om-landbrugsbistanden-11-burkina-faso-sankar
