The agricultural sector plays a major role in the economic and social development of the population in Burkina Faso. However, essentially based on rainfed production, the low-productivity agriculture in the region is largely dependent on climatic hazards that repeatedly compromise their national food security. In this study, we develop a spatial and economic tool for strategic analysis and visioning to help understand where the best opportunities for rural infrastructure investments are in Burkina Faso. Our proposed approach utilizes stochastic frontier analysis to (i) identify areas of high agricultural potential with low accessibility to prioritize investments in road infrastructure according to a spatial model that estimates the minimum time taken to travel from any point in a country to the nearest market, and (ii) estimate average household gains in agricultural efficiency by comparing smallholders’ performance under current conditions and under a scenario of improved access to small-scale irrigation and rural electrification. Our results for Burkina Faso show a clear north – south divide in terms of agricultural potential: low potential in the north of the country versus higher potential in the south. The estimated agricultural efficiency, which measures the degree to which a region succeeds in operating on its profit frontier, shows an east – west divide, with higher efficiency regions appearing more often in the western part of the country. Superimposing the market access measure on the attainable agricultural potential estimates brings into focus two regions as priority areas for investments in expanding and improving the road network: the Est and Sud-Ouest regions that combine medium to high access times to markets with medium to high attainable agricultural potential. Finally, our analysis shows that the biggest gains in revenues from small-scale irrigation and rural electrification investments occur in the Sud-Ouest, Boucle du Mouhoun (Bale province), Centre-Est and Est regions, while lack of access to water sources limits the potential for small-scale irrigation and the benefits from electrification in the Sahel region in the north.
publication
Targeting investments in roads, small-scale irrigation and rural electrification in Burkina Faso
This study assesses high-potential areas for investments in transport, irrigation and electricity infrastructure in Burkina Faso.