Adding value to non-timber forest products for economic diversification, job creation and ecosystem preservation in Burkina Faso !

Burkina Faso has around 376 plant species that provide non-timber forest products (NTFPs), according to the National Rural Sector Programme (2012). These products are an important source of food and have great economic and sustainable development potential for rural households. Thanks to its favourable climate and vegetation, the Cascades region is a major NTFP producer. It is against this backdrop that the Association de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune de la Comoé-Léraba (AGEREF/CL) is supporting local green micro-business initiatives designed to strengthen the livelihoods of communities in a context of increasingly pressing climate change.

In Burkina Faso, Non-Timber Forest Products are defined as ‘any good of biological origin other than timber and fauna, with the exception of insects, derived from forests, other wooded land and trees outside forests, including spontaneous, domesticated plants, and those intended for reforestation’ IUCN Certification des PFNL au Burkina Faso, Manuel simplifié à l’usage des Organisations Communautaires de Base (2015:15). These products are often harvested, processed and consumed locally, helping to reduce poverty and improve food security.

AGEREF Comoé-Léraba promotes green jobs

The Association de Gestion des Ressources Naturelles et de la Faune de la Comoé Léraba (AGEREF/CL) is an umbrella organisation for seventeen Village Associations de Gestion des Terroirs et des Ressources Naturelles (AGTREN). The organisation is particularly involved in biodiversity conservation and the development of social projects (Facebook link). Since October 2001, it has been the community concession holder for the Comoé-Léraba Classified Forest and Partial Wildlife Reserve (FCRPF/CL), which covers 125,000 hectares. This area is an extraordinary reservoir of biological diversity for Burkina Faso and is designated Ramsar site no. 1878. It is home to 301 species of woodland, 123 species of mammals, 464 species of birds, 62 species of reptiles and over 40 species of fish.

One of AGEREF Comoé – Léraba’s objectives is to develop and manage natural resources in a sustainable way that supports local development. To this end, it promotes and develops non-timber forest products (NTFPs). AGEREF Comoé – Léraba has strengthened the skills of its stakeholders thanks to the support of its technical and financial partners, including the World Bank, through the Burkina Faso Ministry of the Environment, and the Small Initiatives Programme of the French Committee of IUCN-France. In particular, it has set up seven NTFP processing units for women in the villages of Diaya, Sirakoro, Bondokoro-Dogossè, Ouangolodougou, Kimini, Nofesso and Gnaminadougou (shea butter production units, shea butter soap production units, soumbala production units, etc.) and strengthened the technical and material capacities of around 150 beekeepers (training and provision of a complete kit) while setting up a honey house.

For example, women have organised themselves to collect the fruits of the shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa), whose nuts (similar to walnuts) are then sorted, washed, cooked and dried. The extracted kernels are then crushed and roasted to extract a paste, which is then refined to produce the oil that becomes the pale yellow butter, considered to be ‘women’s gold’. Other equally prized products, such as soumbala, obtained from the processing of néré (Acacia macrostachya) seeds, are used as culinary condiments and therapeutic remedies in West Africa. These technical processing courses are accompanied by training sessions in simplified accounting for production group managers.

These socio-economic units have helped to increase household incomes and improve women’s living conditions through better-quality production and the sale of forest products. The development of NTFPs in AGEREF/CL’s intervention zone individually and collectively generates income that is essential for the well-being of households and the population. Fatoumata Hema, President of the An-houmafa women’s group in Nofesso, put it this way: ‘I use the fruits of the forest to make shea butter and soumbala, which I sell at the village market. I earn more than 200,000 CFA francs, or 332 dollars a year’.

From 2018 onwards, the recurrence of terrorist attacks in the Cascades region forced people to move out of the villages bordering the Classified Forest and the Reserve, which led to the cessation of activities in the intervention zone.

However, in 2024, AGEREF/CL continued its efforts to promote non-timber products by supporting two women’s cooperatives in the villages of Fabédougou and Séréfédougou in the commune of Bérégadougou (secure and accessible localities) in the production of shea butter. These women’s groups were trained in modern butter production techniques. The women were also provided with equipment such as mills and churns. This capacity-building was made possible thanks to technical and financial support from the Small Initiatives Programme of IUCN-France as part of the implementation of the ‘Territorial Partnerships for Elephant Conservation (PTCE) in the Comoé’ project by AGEREF/CL.

Challenges and prospects

Despite the opportunities, the development of green industries and non-timber product processing micro-enterprises in the Cascades region is facing a number of challenges, including insecurity and difficulties in accessing international markets. It is now necessary to strengthen the marketing and distribution networks for these products on a wider scale, and to enable them to be exported.

The development of green industries and micro-enterprises processing non-timber forest products in the Cascades region represents a real opportunity to stimulate the local economy while preserving the environment. With the improved security situation in its area, AGEREF Comoé – Léraba will be working to consolidate the gains it has already made through new partnerships, in order to better exploit the potential of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in its area of operation.