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Contribution of home gardens to household income generation in Burkina Faso : a case study of Bieha District
Titre : Contribution of home gardens to household income generation in Burkina Faso : a case study of Bieha District
Auteur : Guuroh Reginald Tang
Université de soutenance : Technische Universität Dresden
Grade : Master of Science in Tropical Forestry and Management 2011
Résumé
High population growth rates, increasing land fragmentation and continuous mono-
cropping have resulted in low farm productivity and food insecurity in Burkina Faso. Most,
households in rural Burkina Faso keep a homegarden in addition to their farms. Although
homegardens are known to substantially contribute to food/fodder production and cash
income generation of farm households, there is lack of quantitative information on the
benefits of homegardens in the country. The main purpose of this research was therefore
to study the structure, functions and contribution of homegardens to rural household
s’ income generation. The study was conducted in the Bieha department of southern Burkina
Faso. In consultation with administrative authorities of the District, the village of Prata was
selected for field data collection. The study employed Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
techniques such as personal observation, key informant interview, and focus group
discussion. A household questionnaire survey was used to complement the RRA for data
collection. Eighty (80) households were selected for the survey based on systematic
sampling. The total homegarden area of each sampled household was measured and they
were put into three groups as follows : small (households with homegarden size of 0.1-1.5
ha), medium (1.6-3.0 ha) and large (>3.0 ha). Data was collected by interviews at
household level. The research showed that all the surveyed households manage
homegardens composed of trees, animals and crops. It was found that, homegarden size
and farm size are not significantly related though farm sizes tend to decrease slightly with
increasing homegarden sizes. There was a significant positive correlation between
homegarden size and the number of crop species grown. However, the correlations
between homegarden size and the number of trees/animal species were insignificant. In
terms of inputs and outputs per unit area, it was found that there is higher input and output
in smaller homegardens than larger ones per hectare. The correlation between
homegarden output and number of crop species was found to be significant. Homegardens
in the study area have a potential to improve livelihoods significantly especially if farmers
take the necessary steps to make production more sustainable. A key lesson from this
study is that farmers should adopt mixed cropping as well as increasing livestock and tree
components of homegardens.
Page publiée le 17 janvier 2017, mise à jour le 19 janvier 2018