A joint seminar of JIRCAS and the National Institute of Environmental and Agricultural Research (INERA) of Burkina Faso on “Collaborative Research Aiming for Sustainable Agricultural Development in Burkina Faso” was held at the JIRCAS Headquarters in Tsukuba on March 28, 2017. The seminar was aimed at promoting mutual understanding and strengthening research collaboration, and was attended by the Director of INERA and representatives of the ongoing collaborative research projects of JIRCAS in Burkina Faso. 

Burkina Faso is a landlocked country with a land mass of 270,000 sq. km. and a population of 18 million people located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in West Africa. Approximately 80% of the people are engaged in agriculture, but agricultural productivity is low and soil that is prone to land degradation is widely distributed. In order to address these problems, JIRCAS started two research projects in 2016 on the development of an intensive basin management model and utilization of the genetic diversity of cowpea. In addition, the SATREPS project, funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), on developing a technology for utilization of phosphorus ore produced in Burkina Faso as fertilizer was initiated in 2017. The progress of these research projects were presented in the seminar followed by discussions and exchange of opinions with JIRCAS researchers and representatives from JICA and JST.