Burkina Faso Country Report Launch

This report summarizes the key findings of the study conducted by TASAI in 2022 to appraise the structure and economic performance of Burkina Faso’s formal seed sector. For Burkina Faso two similar studies were conducted in 2018 and 2020. TASAI studies focus on the four grain and legume crops important to a country’s food and nutritional security (the “four focus crops”). In Burkina Faso, these crops are maize, rice, sorghum, and cowpea.

Under the research and development category, there are several positive developments and areas for improvement in Burkina Faso’s formal seed system, which remains in the early growth stage of development. The number of active breeders at the Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA) for the four crops increased from 9 in 2017 to 16 in 2021. Further, seed producers reported a high level of satisfaction with the adequacy of the INERA breeders and the availability of basic seed from INERA for all four crops. Importantly, 17 of the 18 varieties released between 2019 and 2021 had at least one climate-smart feature. However, the variety release process is not fully functioning, leading to a backlog of applications for varieties that have been developed by INERA and are waiting for release.

Under the industry competitiveness category, the seed market is competitive, with no single seed producer or group of seed producers dominating the seed market across the four crops. The main challenge is the seed producers’ over-dependence on the government seed subsidy program as the main buyer of seed for all four crops. In 2021, the government subsidy program accounted for between 41% (of cowpea seed) and 66% (of rice seed) of all seed sold by seed producers.

Burkina Faso’s seed policy instruments are relatively complete, as most decrees and ministerial orders have been passed. In addition, Burkina Faso was one of the first countries in the ECOWAS region to adopt the ECOWAS Seed Regulations of 2008. The main implementing entities under the Seed Law, that is, the Comité National de Semences (CNS) and the Service National des Semences (SNS), are both operational, and have manuals of procedures to guide their work. One shortcoming is that the CNS is not able to conduct the Distinctness, Uniformity and Stability (DUS) and Value for Cultivation and Use (VCU) tests required for variety release. Instead, they are conducted by INERA, which presents a conflict of interest, since INERA also develops the same seed varieties. Other persistent challenges reported by seed producers pertain to the seed subsidy program, which is characterized by an unpredictable procurement process and inefficient – delayed – payments to seed producers.

Under the institutional support category, the TASAI study found that, while seed producers are relatively satisfied with the SNS’ seed inspection services (73% rating in 2021), there service would be strengthened by hiring additional seed inspectors and by increasing the available funding. This would complement ongoing positive developments including the use of various technology applications to improve their efficiency.

In the category of service to smallholder farmers, it was reported that although the number of public extension officers has declined over the last three years, seed producers’ satisfaction with their adequacy has remained “good.” Burkina Faso had 57 registered agro-dealers 2021; although this is up from 48 recorded by TASAI in 2019, it is nevertheless a small number, especially considering that the total number of agro-dealers operating in the country is estimated to exceed 1000. The 2022 TASAI Burkina Faso Country Study was published following a successful dissemination meeting held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on January 25, 2023, where the findings were validated and discussed by seed industry stakeholders representing the country’s both the public and private sectors.