- Burkina Faso farmers are devising strategies to adjust to the changing weather patterns following a disappointment from the Copenhagen to help poor nations minimises the effects of global change in developing nations.
The country is re-introducing the traditional soil protection techniques which include digging pits - compost-filled planting pits which hold water, helping deep-rooted vegetables grow; building up grass and rock barriers around crops to protect them from soil erosion; and cultivating manure in septic tanks to use as fertilizer.
Burkinabe farmers said the annual support amounting to $10 billion pledge by developed world to held poor farmers was insufficient, saying the effects of climate change are more severe.
In recent years the rains have begun and ended later than usual in Burkina Faso, continuing into October though September is traditionally harvest time, with the rains also increasingly heavy, leading to soil erosion and flash floods.
Desertification, long a problem in the north, has reportedly spread to the southern part of the country.
Agriculture officials said farmers risk having their crops rotting in the fields due to heavy rains and flooding, stating that over 40 percent of the cowpea crop and much of the sorghum harvest rot in the fields.
Through its National Action Adaptation to Climate Change programme, the government has channelled $3 million to help people adapt in the farming, livestock, forestry and water resource sectors.
The World Bank’s agricultural production and food security support to Burkina Faso is estimated at $54.5 million from 2010-2015. Last year the Bank spent $5 million on distributing quick-harvest sorghum, maize and cowpea seeds.
New varieties of cowpeas can be harvested in 45 days, down from 80, according to agricultural experts; sorghum and maize down to three months from four or five.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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