Drought Impacts on Crops Sector and Adaptation Options in Burkina Faso : A Gender Focused Computable General Equilibrium Analysis

Burkina Faso has experienced recurrent droughts since the 1970s. Between 1969 and 2020, drought affected more than 15 million people in Burkina Faso. In 2011, for example, the drought resulted in the loss of half a million tons of grain and caused a food shortage that affected 2.8 million people (USAID, 2019). In addition, estimates predict reductions in rainfall and increases in temperature by 2050 (USAID, 2019). Such shocks would increase drought events and have adverse effects on economic activities, particularly agricultural activities. Droughts pose a threat to the stability of food production from agriculture in Burkina Faso, but also to the production system as a whole, as well as the services it provides. These effects affect both rural and urban households and both men and women. However, women are less resilient to drought shocks, especially given their low capacity to access productive resources, such as land, uninsured credit and low capacity to migrate. The economic and social situation in Burkina Faso is also generally poor, including gender inequality. Approximately 41.4% of the population still lives below the poverty line, and the average per capita income is $1,335 for women versus $2,077 for men (PNUD, 2019). In addition, income poverty affects relatively more women (43.7%) than men (40.6%) (Agbodji et al., 2015). Between 2014 and 2016, 20.7% of the population of Burkina Faso was food insecure and rural areas are the most affected by extreme poverty, with 94.4% suffering from hunger (INSD, 2015).