In sub-Saharan Africa, the impact of global warming on rainfed crop yields is increasingly being felt, leading to crop losses of up to 30% among family farmers. Faced with longer and more frequent periods of drought, supplementary irrigation using run-off water collection basins (BCER) has been popularised to enable farmers to preserve their crops. Unfortunately, the significant losses of water through infiltration in BCERs tend to cancel out the effectiveness of this system. My thesis aims to optimise the design of the BCER by using available, inexpensive, easy-to-implement and durable solutions for waterproofing it.
With watertight basins, growers will have a sufficient reserve of water for supplementary irrigation during periods of drought. They will also be able to introduce short-cycle crops at the end of the rainy season and produce nurseries for sale. Farmers will also be able to grow fish in their BCERs. Fish reared in this way provide an additional source of protein in the diet and income for families. Ultimately, my thesis will contribute to food security and increased income for rural households.
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Aerial view of the experimental set-up comprising 16 experimental basins lined in 4 different ways © Mrs BORO, June 2024) |
Illustration of supplemental irrigation Source Zongo et al. 2022, Agriculture & Food Security |
