Burkina Faso, January 2021
Working Week for the development of NRDS II Concept Notes in Burkina Faso
To overcome food shortages and deal with the food price crisis of 2008, the Ministry in charge of Agriculture of Burkina Faso in collaboration with development partners and the main actors of the rice sector, adopted a National Rice Development Strategy (NRDS I), which expired in 2018.
Evaluation of the implementation of the NRDS-1 shows appreciable results, in terms of increased production and improvement of the quality of rice produced in Burkina Faso. In fact, production increased at an average annual growth rate of 14% over the period of 2005-2016, from 93,516 tons in 2005 to 384,690 tons in 2016.
Despite this progress, rice cultivation in Burkina Faso is still facing major challenges, which must imperatively be addressed for a real development of the sector. These include adaptation to the effects of climate change, access to agricultural inputs and equipment, adoption of innovative technological packages, appropriate mechanization of the different segments of the rice value chain, strengthening of technical capacities of actors, and the land tenure security.
To face these challenges and respond effectively to the ever-increasing demand for white and parboiled rice, the Government, in collaboration with the main partners involved in the rice sector, have developed a second national rice development strategy (NRDS II; 2021-2030) which has the overall objective of “contributing to the acceleration of the satisfaction of the national demand for rice of Burkina, in quantity and in quality.”
To achieve this objective, it has been decided to split the implementation of the strategy into two successive periods, namely 2021 to 2025 and from 2026 to 2030. The first period (2021 to 2025) will aim at accelerating the pace to achieve the production target of “one million tons of paddy during the 2020-2021 agricultural season” and to initiate a continuous increase in production to achieve self-sufficiency in rice. The second period (2026 to 2030) will aim at consolidating the gains during the first period to achieve a level that realizes a security stock as well as surplus for export.
Following the drafting of the NRDS II, it was validated on January 28, 2020. In order to facilitate its implementation, developing project concept notes becomes a crucial step forward. It was in this context that a working week took place between January 18 and 23, 2021, which brought together the main actors in the rice value chain. The objective of the working week was to identify relevant projects that could help achieve the objectives of the NRDS II.
Key Results
Through a participatory approach, members of the Rice Task Force in Burkina Faso identified five (05) project ideas on the basis of the action plan of the NRDS II, and initiated the development of concept notes. The table below gives a summary of these projects:
Table summarizing the project ideas for implementation of the NRDS II of Burkina Faso
| Title of the project | General objective | Specific objectives |
| Rice production systems intensification project | Contribute to sustainable increase in rice production through the intensification of production systems adapted to the context of climate change | SO1: Develop production support infrastructures
SO2: Increase the availability and accessibility of quality inputs SO3: Strengthen the technical and organizational capacities of stakeholders |
| Project to support the Mechanization of the Rice Sector in Burkina Faso | Improve the efficiency of production and post-harvest operations through the use of machinery and equipment | SO1: Facilitate access to equipment
SO2: Ensuring the sustainability of mechanization |
| Burkina Rice Processing Support Project | Contribute to improving the quality of rice in Burkina Faso through an efficient processing system. | SO1: Ensure sustainable supply of paddy to processors
SO2: Facilitate access to infrastructure, equipment and maintenance services for processing units SO3: Strengthen operational capacities of processors |
| Burkina rice competitiveness improvement project | Improving competitiveness of the local rice in Burkina | SO1: Improve the marketing of paddy
SO2: Reduce rice production costs SO3: Promote the Burkina rice label |
| Project to strengthen research and capacities of actors in the rice value chain. | Contribute to strengthening the capacities of research and actors in the rice value chain. | SO1: Develop and disseminate technologies on rice cultivation
SO2: Support the organizations along the RVC SO3: Strengthen technical and operational capacities of the actors along the RVC |
On the basis of these project ideas, the members of the rice task force in Burkina will finalize the project identification form (PIF) which will be subject to sharing and validation by the end of March. The validated PIF will be shared with the technical partners during a tour of presentation and study of funding possibilities, commonly referred to as “fund matching,” before the Roundtable of Donors which is scheduled in July 2021.
