Geography
Burkina Faso is a landlocked Sahelian country in West Africa with a total area of 274,220 Km2. It shares its borders with Mali to the north and west, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo and Benin to the south and Niger to the east. It lies between the Sahara desert and the Gulf of Guinea, south of the loop of the Niger River, mostly between latitudes 9° and 15°N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6°W and 3°E. Most of the country is located on a plateau called central plateau. The terrain is, therefore, relatively flat and the average altitude (400 m) with extremes ranging from 125 m to the southeast (Pama region) to 749 m in the southwest (Ténakourou peak).

Population and land use
The population of Burkina Faso is 20.3 Million as per the Population Reference Bureau (2019). In the Sahelian zone to the north, the natural vegetation consists of grassy shrub steppes, trees are scattered and located on streams. In the South Sudan area to the south, it is a denser and continuous herbaceous carpet area characterized by tree-lined, light-forest savannahs with forest galleries along streams.

Climate and rainfall
The climate is tropical in a Sahelian-dominated type, characterized by two contrasting seasons: a rainy season and a dry season. Traditionally, there are three climatic zones, where rainfall varies greatly from month to month, with August being the wettest month; these areas intersect with phyto-geographic units: (1) The Sahelian zone to the north with an average annual rainfall of between 300 and 600 mm; the dry season lasts 7 to 9 months (October to June) and the length of the vegetative season is less than 100 days/year. (2) The north-Central Sudan area with an average annual rainfall of between 600 and 900 mm, the rainy season is spread over 4 to 5 months (June to October); natural vegetation is characterized by a more continuous herbaceous stratum and denser woody formations of the shrub savannah type with tree savannah. Crops are grown in agro-forest parks. (3) The South Sudan area to the south with an average annual rainfall of between 900 and 1,200 mm, marked by a rainy season of up to 6 to 7 months (May to October). Temperatures vary seasonally from 27 to 30oC in the south to 22 to 33oC in the north.

Food and agriculture
As Burkina Faso agriculture is a subsistence agriculture, food production plays an important role in production decisions. Grain transactions are less important than those of other agricultural products such as cowpea, peanut and sesame with high demand. Cotton remains the main agricultural export product. Cultivation methods are extensive across the country, but yields are increasing from north to south, along with rainfall and soil fertility. The expansion of the area under cultivation in the South Sudan area is significant as a result of the development of cotton cultivation and the migration of populations in search of more favourable conditions for agriculture. Of the country’s 6 Mha of arable land, traditional rain-fed cereals (mil, sorghum, fonio, maize) account for about 3.7 Mha (2011-2012) and rice occupies about 98,000 ha. The other main crops are cotton (in the south and east of the country) followed by vegetables and fruit crops, as well as sugarcane. The area equipped for irrigation of about 54,275 ha in 2011 represents only 0.9% of the area under cultivation. The area under cultivation was 6.07 Mha in 2012, of which 6 Mha are arable land and 0.07 Mha are permanent crops, or 22% of the total area.

Water resources management
Burkina Faso is drained by five national hydrographic basins - Comoé, Mouhoun, Nakanbé, Nazinon and Niger. Internal underground renewable water resources are estimated at 9.5 Km3 / year and those in surface water at 8 Km3 / year. Thus, taking into account the common part between them corresponding to approximately 50% of surface water – i.e. 5 Km3 / year - which allow groundwater recharge, internal renewable water resources are estimated at 12.5 Km3 / year, or 738 m3 / year / inhabitant in 2013. The total renewable water resources are identical - 12.5 Km3 / year - due to the absence of inflows into the country, whether it is surface water or groundwater.

Irrigation and drainage
The history of the evolution of irrigated areas is linked to the national agricultural policy which has itself evolved taking into account climatic vagaries and the needs to ensure food self-sufficiency for the population. From 1985 onward, the development of irrigation went through the promotion of integrated development projects and programs including the construction of irrigation hydraulic infrastructure and aspects of the development of hydro-agricultural facilities. Finally, from 1990, Burkina Faso embarked on a process of reforming its economy (Structural Adjustment Program), the consequence of which was the State’s disengagement from the agricultural production sector in order to cede it to the sector, which favored the emergence of private or community irrigation. In 2011, total irrigated areas occupied 29,730 Ha — large developments of 12,793 Ha, medium-sized developments of 3,237 Ha and small developments of 13,700 Ha while the developed lowlands reached 24,545 Ha in partial water control, for a total irrigated area of 54,275 Ha. The potential irrigable areas of Burkina Faso are estimated between 165,000 Ha and 233,500 Ha depending on whether or not the inclusion of anti-erosion site development zones.

Water policies
The National Sustainable Development Policy of Irrigated Agriculture (PNDDAI) is the result of the Strategic Framework for Combating Poverty (2004), which is being converted into an Accelerated Growth Strategy for Sustainable Development (SCADD) adopted in 2011. For the agricultural sector, a National Rural Sector Programme (PNSR, Government of Burkina Faso, 2012) has been developed. The latter is now the strategic framework for the irrigated agriculture subsector. It outlines, among other things, the main policy directions and the Government’s objectives in this area. Its objective is to increase water control areas by ensuring availability of surface and groundwater. The implementation of this programme will be monitored through the following indicators: (i) surface water storage capacity, (ii) water control areas and (iii) the share of irrigated production in total agricultural production. Its current challenge is to maintain the dynamics of the construction of agricultural hydraulic infrastructure in order to increase the share of hydro-agricultural developments in national production.

ICID and National Committee
The Burkina Faso joined ICID in 2014 and established the Comité National des Irrigations et du Drainage du Burkina Faso - CNID-B. Presently, Mr. M. OUANGO D. François is the President of the CNID-B and can be contacted at tiladoday@yahoo.fr and/or cnidb14@yahoo.fr