Système coutumier de tenure des terres et lutte contre la désertification en milieu rural au Burkina Faso.

Customary land tenure system and combating desertification in rural areas of Burkina Faso. Land tenure has always been at the heart of agricultural development issues in Burkina, while the customary system has been considered by a great number of actors as one of the major constraints to adoption of improved land management techniques. Our study examines the social dynamics of land management and adoption of land management techniques to preserve agricultural potential against desertification. The study was carried out in four villages of the Central Plateau zone (Kirsi, Boulcon, Dafiré and Sakou) and in two villages of the West zone (Dossi and Bahoun) and included 240 households. The information obtained from the data collected using MARP (Méthode Active de Recherche Participative) tools showed that land status (land inheritance, gift, long-term loan, short-term loan and purchase) is no longer a constraint to adopting long-term land conservation techniques. Among the resource conservation methods practiced in the villages (stone rows, zais and half moon basins, grassed strips, mulching, tree planting, manure spreading, quickset hedges) only tree planting does not yet seem to be accepted by landowners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]