Project
The Thiombianos have become model farmers showcasing how to combine market gardening and fish farming while using solar energy to power water pumps
“At first, drip irrigation didn’t work for us, but the experts showed us how basins can be a solution. This changed the way we irrigate our fields.”
“With the new skills we’ve gained, we finally feel like we are taking control of our future. We are now able to manage our own resources.”
Feedback from ProValAB beneficiaries given to the Evaluation team
On the outskirts of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Thiombiano Paul Roland and his wife Somé Mariam have emerged as the faces of ProValAB’s transformative impact. With technical guidance and training from the project team, the Thiombianos constructed two fish ponds to integrate aquaculture with market gardening, using nutrient-rich wastewater from the ponds to fertilise their lettuce and cabbage crops and reduce growth cycles. ProValAB’s provision of solar-powered boreholes further reduced their production costs. The result? On top of their regular income from market garden crops, their first harvest of fresh catfish, tilapia and smoked fish netted them an additional €1532 (1M FCFA).
Building on a legacy of working with small dams and irrigation
A landlocked nation in the semi-arid sub-Saharan region of the Sahel, Burkina Faso is considered among those on the front line of the global climate crisis. It is heavily reliant on agriculture for sustenance and as a source of income for the majority of the population, but periods of severe drought and flooding along with increasing security issues and internal displacement resulting from extremist attacks have wreaked havoc on the sector and contributed to food insecurity.
The Government of Burkina Faso has taken proactive measures to address the problems facing farmers, particularly in terms of providing sustainable access to water. Launched initially in 2018 as a continuation of earlier Swedish support to reduce the vulnerability of small dams to climate change, the first phase of ProValAB worked to improve hydro-agricultural management practices and increase the yield and market competitiveness of agricultural produce in the regions of East, Centre, Centre East, Centre North, Centre West, and Plateau Central. In addition to training farmers on production techniques adapted to climate change, the project successfully rehabilitated 444 hectares of irrigated perimeters and five small dams. A core lesson from the first stage was that sustainability of dam-site management must be based on socio-economic viability, healthy fiscality, and water user fees to maintain state interest in investing in heavy infrastructure for the benefit of a variety of small producers and that these resources must be used wisely, efficiently, and equitably.
The meeting point of agriculture, water, and energy
Phase 2 kicked off in 2022 with the aim of improving the living conditions of 11,422 beneficiaries by harnessing renewable energy as a means to improve equitable water access from small dams to irrigate market garden crops. ProValAB was guided by human rights, sustainability, and conflict sensitivity principles and sought to empower particularly women and youth through actions informed by the effects of climate change.
Lead by Agricultural Economist Beteo Zongo, the ProValAB team comprised experts in good governance, strengthening of agricultural value chains, gender, microfinance and MEL and were supported by a pool of international and national experts specialising, for example, in outcomes harvesting, digitisation and organic farming.
“Our team worked closely with stakeholders to provide targeted support and advice aimed at ensuring long-term benefits for local communities. We helped strengthen governance around dams, water, and cultivation areas, focusing on making systems more efficient, transparent, and equitable while promoting stronger connections between rural communes and the facilities they rely on. By prioritising women’s economic empowerment, youth involvement, and climate resilience, we made sure our efforts aligned with both immediate needs and in the longer term,” Beteo explains. “We also supported environmental and other studies, built capacity in results-based management, and guided the implementation of strategies to boost value chains and market development. It’s been rewarding to see the results.”
of ProValAB 1 beneficiaries experience improved or stabilised food security situation
increase in income from selling farm produce
increase in income from agricultural work
Despite some operational challenges, including insecurity in some intervention areas, the project achieved significant milestones. In terms of infrastructure, ProValAB rehabilitated 3 dams (Guibaré, Yaongo, Tanga) and 101 hectares of old irrigated land, developed 101 hectares of new irrigated land and equipped 36 hectares of market gardens with solar pumping systems like that given to the Thiombianos. Five boreholes and three warehouses for agricultural storage were built and subsidised equipment, such as power tillers and fish farming kits were handed out. The real impact of ProValAB will be felt in the longer term when the capability building and coaching pays off. Training on the rights-based approach, linking human rights with economic development, was given to 74 representatives from government ministries, water agencies and other stakeholders. Water User Committees (WUC), which play a critical role in the development and management of scarce water resources in community-based water supply and irrigation projects, sent 274 people (70% women) for training on strengthening governance for sustainable water and land management and today all of these WUCs hold regular general assemblies and at least 30% of the members of the boards are women. WUC members and 300 other stakeholders like farmer organisations’ representatives also received training on how to ensure long-term financial responsibility for infrastructure and land. For example, they learned techniques for collecting financial contributions to maintain dams and how to support farmers in marketing their products or lobby local authorities.
Smallholders were a key beneficiary of ProValAB training, either directly or indirectly: 426 were coached on production planning, good agricultural practices and irrigation while 40 agricultural officers from the Regional Department of Agriculture, Animal Resources and Fisheries were trained to spread the word on climate-smart farming techniques. In addition to advice, the project provided equipment power tillers, motor pumps, fish enclosures, fish feed grinders and above-ground tank units. Importantly, the project launched 68 farmer field schools where over 500 farmers have received further training on agricultural production and good practices such as the management of diseases and pests in market garden crops.
“Market gardening is dominated by onions and tomatoes, but other crops such as moringa or papaya could be grown to further diversify production and reduce risk,” Beteo explains. “Much of our work was improving food security by helping people diversifying their diet and introducing climate-smart practices.”
Another important ProValAB focus was on adding value to tomato, onion, fish, and rice value chains. Members of organisations like the National Union of Rice Parboilers received training along with 2,245 members of other interest groups on networking and business development and specific techniques related to the value chain (such as tomato processing and preservation). In Bakata communes, for example, this has led to the launch of annual agricultural product fairs, an idea that hopefully will spread to other communes.
A greater focus on gender
In Burkina Faso, women constitute 52% of the workforce and provide a large part of the workforce in the agricultural sector both in subsistence farming and cash crops. However, as they do not enjoy equal conditions with men in accessing and controlling productive resources, women’s economic empowerment was an essential element of ProValAB. In the first phase, the team engaged with the local communities to investigate why women have smaller plots than men, why they obtain less income from their crops, and how they could improve their income. As a direct result of these community discussions, training courses were launched for women where images, storytelling, sketches, group work and practical exercises helped break down the message. In the second phase, government officials were trained on the importance of gender equality and strengthening women's value chain management. Women’s cooperatives were given equipment and business, processing and conservation training (e.g. rice husking and parboiling techniques, how to contract with customers, marketing tips, and the establishment of cooperatives) and allocated 36 hectares of solar-powered market gardens. Farmer organisations with a total of almost 1400 female members were given advice on and access to microfinancing solutions.
During a Swedish Embassy visit to the project site, the secretary of the women's collective operating the Zagtouli market garden recounted that prior to ProValAB, it was hard to afford vegetables such as lettuce, fruit, and tomatoes. But now with the continuous water supply and capacity to grow a wider variety, access to fresh vegetables has greatly improved. Households have diversified their diet through the consumption of vegetables they produce in the market garden. "Ever since we received the borehole and sprinkler system, our garden never runs out of water. Plus, we can go about our business while the garden is watered,” she said.
Laying the groundwork for future interventions
ProValAB has demonstrated that combining renewable energy, agricultural innovation, and community engagement can create a resilient and sustainable future. The Thiombianos' success story epitomises the project’s impact, inspiring others to adopt climate-smart practices that improve livelihoods, contribute to food security and build climate resilience in Burkina Faso and beyond.
Beyond that, the project highlights the importance of community involvement, capacity building, and strategic partnerships. It shows how ownership ensures longer-term success – when beneficiaries are asked to contribute to infrastructure development they are more likely to get invested in long-term management and maintenance – and how access to credit, financial literacy and marketing support can be transformational for those who receive it.
For Beteo, the legacy is clear. “I am very proud of what we achieved on gender,” says Beteo. “We changed people’s minds. Now they understand that gender matters and that women must be included not just in governance but that training should focus on enhancing their leadership and economic empowerment. The system-level management of water resources, like the WUCs, is also much more clearly visible in the field. And now, thanks to the ProValAB monitoring and evaluation training, there is also much greater capacity to see the impact of government interventions and create feedback loops to introduce changes needed for improvement.”
