Author Archive
Small Farmers in West Africa Need Support – Despite Good Rains
Posted by Inter Press Service: Brahima Ouédraogo on October 5th, 2012
Inter Press Service: Despite an abundance of rain, promising good harvests for the current growing season, small-scale farmers and non-governmental organisations are calling for support to smallholders to be maintained with a view to eradicating food insecurity in Africa's Sahel region.
The Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel forecasts that between 57 and 64 million tonnes of grain will be harvested in West Africa in 2012-2013, representing an increase of between five and 17 percent over...
Burkina Faso Losing Thousands of Hectares of Forests Each Year
Posted by Inter Press Service: Brahima Ouédraogo on June 22nd, 2011
Inter Press Service: The Burkina Faso authorities have sounded the alarm over the increased rate of degradation of forests in this Sahelian country.
According to a study by the Ministry for the Environment and Sustainable Development, some 110,550 hectares of forest are destroyed each year, just over four percent of the country's total wooded area – around three-quarters of this annual loss linked to farming. The data covers forest loss between 1992 and 2002, but the trend continues, according the ministry.
The...