Status: active

Agriculture in Burkina Faso includes the sub-sectors of agro-sylvo-pastoral production, wildlife, and fish farming. Crop production, livestock and forestry sector continues to hold a leading position in socio-economic development. It employs more than 80% of the population and accounts for approximately 18% to the GDP (World Bank, 2020).The main crops cultivated are cereals (sorghum, millet, maize) which constitute the staple diet of much of the population. Cotton remains the main cash crop of the country and accounts for 2/3 of the country's export earnings. About 98% of the cotton production is exported. There is also significant production of fruits and vegetables, mango, sweet banana, and onions being the main. Onions represent more than 30% of the country's vegetable production. These crop productions are essentially rain-fed and are subject to the constraints of rainfall variability. They are almost exclusively extensive, and are practiced primarily on family farms, dominated by small scale farmers (3 to 6 ha) with little mechanization. Fertilizer market structure In Burkina Faso, the fertilizer market is segmented in two types, namely the cotton fertilizer market and the non-cotton or food crop fertilizer market. The fertilizer market is still dominated by food crops, representing on average 60% of the annual quantities of fertilizers used, with 50% used on cereals. Cotton accounts for about 30% of the country's fertilizer, with sugarcane and horticulture completing the demand for a market that ranges in size from 200,000 to 300,000 tons per year.