The project to improve livestock mobility and income of agro-pastoralists through the use of mobile telephony and satellite imagery / pastoral infrastructure component (MODHEM+/SDC), organized on Tuesday 20 June 2023 in Ouagadougou, a training workshop on technical itineraries in the context of fodder production, for the 2023-2024 campaign.
Burkinabè herders are increasingly confronted with a lack of fodder for their animals, due, among other things, to the intensity of the exploitation of resources, bush fires and the non-renewal of this natural food.
The Project to Improve Livestock Mobility and Income of Agropastoralists through the Use of Mobile Phones and Satellite Imagery / Pastoral Infrastructure Component (MODHEM+/SDC), has undertaken actions since its implementation, to contribute to solve this serious problem which weighs down the rural economy and consequently, the national economy when one knows the weight of the pastoral sector in the GDP.
One of the solutions is the sowing of land with good varieties of fodder and the best maintain nurseries.
Dr Souleymane Ouédraogo: “There are several alternatives. Each producer will be able to make his choice”. (Dr. Ouedraogo)
To achieve this objective, MODHEM+/SDC organized on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 in Ouagadougou, a training workshop on technical itineraries within the framework of fodder production for the 2023-2024 campaign.
In total, around sixty actors on the ground, including heads of regional pastoral development services, ZATE leaders and focal points, took part in this meeting of giving and receiving.
In order to achieve very good results, MODHEM+/SDC called on two researchers from the National Institute for the Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA).
According to one of the trainers, Dr Souleymane Ouédraogo, the traditional livestock system is struggling to function these days, as the savanna no longer regulates itself normally. This situation, he continues, forces pastoralists to constantly explore other horizons to find something to feed their animals.
Kassoum Ouédraogo: “Our objective is to improve the production of fodder in quality and quantity”.
“To reverse this is fodder production. These are pastoral arrangements to reseed in order to allow the environment to renew itself, ”he advised.
Dr. Ouédraogo recalled that apart from export crops, pastoralism represents a large part of the national economy.
In his opinion, it is important to focus on fodder production because the livestock sector employs 90% of the active population and generates thousands of jobs.
For the coordinator of the MODHEM+/SDC project, Kassoum Ouédraogo, the meeting aims to refine strategies to reach all the areas of intervention of the project with fodder production.
He explained that dual-purpose species were chosen to produce both seeds for household food and enough biomass to feed livestock. These species are sorghum (Sariaso 16), cowpea (Tilgré and KVX 745 11P).
Also, there are mainly fodder species (Pennissetum pedicelatum and Brachiaria mulato II) which will be sown over large areas.
For Stéphane Tuina, the project aims to restore and regenerate grazing areas/areas of nearly 900 hectares.
Kassoum Ouédraogo indicated that behind these fodder species, there are technical itineraries that pastoral officials and focal points must take note of, in order to relay them to the base.
These technical itineraries show when and how to sow, how to maintain the plots and the right time to harvest.
The head of the pastoral development department of the Center-South region, Boukaré Guira, said that the basics acquired will make it possible to support producers in the field.
He was especially delighted because thanks to the MODHEM+/SDC project which made his region a pilot locality for the production of fodder, a large quantity was harvested there last year.
For Boukaré Guira, the support in the production of fodder and seeds will promote a large production of milk and a better quality of meat.
As a reminder, MODHEM+/SDC is implemented by the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV), thanks to funding from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC).
The Deputy Director of SNV in Burkina Faso, Stéphane Tuina, praised the resilience of agropastoralists, given the difficult security context.
Stéphane Tuina said that the training aims to enable actors to significantly increase their productions, to face the huge deficits that are looming on the horizon.
Source: Burkina Information Agency