Soilless Vegetable Farming: Burkina Faso
In Burkina Faso, soilless farming has provided an opportunity for women residing in the semi-urban communities around the major city of Bobo-Dioulasso to engage in vegetable farming. This innovative approach has enabled them to cultivate organic vegetables for sale in the local market and for consumption at home.
Pictured: A participant of our soilless vegetable farming project in one of the erected greenhouses in Dakoro, Burkina Faso.
IMPACT INSIGHTS
Funded by Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission, this project established two greenhouses with a combined area of 400m², supporting 200 women. Each of the greenhouses has been equipped with a solar-powered drip irrigation system, connected to a borehole and water reservoir. Besides offering a sustainable water source for the farms, this borehole also addressed a longstanding need in the local community, which previously lacked consistent access to water.
Groupe d’Action des Femmes pour la Relance Economique du Houet (GAFREH), is a women-led organisation based in Bobo-Dioulasso which supports over 6,000 women to become economically empowered. GAFREH estimates that between 100 and 150 households have benefitted from this water source, with each household paying a nominal social fee of 250 XOF (£0.32) per 200 litres – this rate is half the price charged by the government. The income from the sale of water is being used to pay the salary of a security guard for the greenhouses and also support borehole maintenance.
Zeynab Ouedrago, Project Officer at GAFREH commented:
“The project has given visibility to GAFREH both locally and nationally. The Central Government, through the Minister of Social Action, has requested GAFREH to help train internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups to go into soilless farming."
SEED TO STALL: INCREASING SELF-SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH SOILLESS VEGETABLE FARMING (PROJECT EXTENSION)
Through funding from Evan Cornish Foundation, we extended our support to an additional 30 women, enabling them to establish soilless vegetable gardens at their homes. Following the training, each participant was provided with a production kit comprising tools, equipment and inputs, equipping them to create soilless gardens at home.
Since the training, some women have taken the initiative to establish locally made greenhouses to provide additional protection to their crops. In these expanded vegetable gardens, they are cultivating a diverse range of vegetables, including tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, peppers and aubergines.
Irene Ouédraogo, Participant of the extended project, said:
“I never heard of soilless farming and did not know I could grow vegetables at home using this technique. After the training we were given kits to start producing vegetables at home. I still doubted this technique until I saw the vegetables growing well at the collective greenhouse.
This motivated me to start mine and the vegetables are growing well. I was so excited that I started another garden on a small space I got from my neighbour.”
Pictured: Irene Ouédraogo, Participant of our extended project.
Our baseline data told us that at the start of the project, none of the 30 participants consumed organic produce due to its high cost and limited availability. At the end of the project, all the participants are now consuming the organic vegetables they produced on their farm at home.
