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Women of Séguénéga district in Northern Burkina Faso are no longer worried about the perpetual droughts in the region. Like most areas in the Sahel, Séguénéga district in Northern Burkina Faso experiences long dry spells of up to eight months in a year. And it is not only droughts that are a major concern to farmers in the region. They have also to grapple with low yields due poor crop varieties and low soil fertility. The consequences are dire: poverty, food and nutritional insecurity.
Farmers in one of their group farms where they have planted the high yielding cowpea variety
In 2006, the Association pour le Développement Economique Culturelle et Sociale de Séguénéga (ADECUSS), with support from PROTA under the Pilot Projects Initiative (PPI) initiated a project to boost vegetables production in the area.
The aim of the project was to promote cultivation of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa) - two commonly used local vegetables - for increased food and nutritional security and household income, under irrigation.
Based on information from PROTA handbook on vegetables - PROTA 2: Vegetables – and conclusions and recommendations from PROTA recommends...series on vegetables, the project adopted a holistic strategy to introduce improved cultivars for the two species, prepare cultivation and management guides and marketing, according to the project technical advisor, Dr. Belem Bassirou.
 
Vegetables cultivation has grown in popularity partly because of value addition.Besides being eaten as a vegetable, roselle is used to produce the popular Bissap juice.
Processed cowpea cakes like this one have increased the popularity of the vegetable in the region.
Sixty small-scale farmers from Boulyaam, Nongtaaba and ZoodNooma women groups, were trained on vegetable production, use of irrigation equipments, and use of solar driers for preservation, marketing and compost making to improve soil fertility. In consultation with the women, the project introduced best varieties of cowpea and roselle. During the process of implementing the project, a trial has been established focus on the cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). The aim of the trial was to compare the biomass production of two provenances of seed; the local seed and the one from INERA. Cowpea leaves were collected by the women every two weeks in each stand, weighed and recorded by the technicians of ADECUSS. From the trial, the leaves from the INERA seed were large compare to leaves from the local seed which were smaller but had more weight.
The project successfully introduced new varieties of cow pea and roselle, which are now grown on commercial basis on group farms. The high yielding cowpea variety introduced from l’Institut National Pour L’Environnement et la Recherche Agronomique (INERA) is now grown as a mono crop as opposed to a supplementary crop intercropped with other food crops. The new variety of roselle is used to make Bissap, a non acidulated drink which is very popular in social functions today. Besides the group farms, individual members have established their own farms of roselle and cowpea, for food and income. At least 60% of the vegetables grown were consumed by the households.
One of the plots set up by the farmer groups to demonstrate the performance of the high yielding cowpea varieties under the project.
Proceeds from the group plot were kept in a bank account, and were mainly used as a microcredit fund, where the women borrowed at a small interest, to cater for their domestic needs such as school fees. The money was also used to pay for farm inputs such as seeds, labour and small equipment.
The women have shared their experiences and created awareness on irrigated vegetables to other women groups, students and to the wider farming community that has led to an increase in the number of farmers growing the two vegetables since the project began. The success of the project led to its replication in the neighbouring village of Sima (5km from Seguenega). Two projects funded by the IUCN Netherlands to benefit women have been initiated. The projects are aimed at promoting the species advanced by the PROTA project through organic farming and for forest management.
Wells like this one constructed by the PROTA project have come in handy for providing water for irrigation of the vegetables during the dry seasons.
Besides improved food security and increased household incomes, the project has also enhanced status and cohesion of the women, according to Ms Habidou Savadogo, President of the women groups.
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