Opportunity crops and farmer resilience during the off-season in peri-urban areas: Case of vegetable producers in Loumbila and the Green belt of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.
- Proceedings Book of the 19th International Congress on Agriculture, Livestock and Rural Development, 11-12 May 2026, Bingöl (Türkiye) : 109-109
Résumé
Farmers in Sahelian countries rely on a rain-fed agriculture characterized by a long off-season. During the off-season, some producers in peri-urban areas engage in market gardening, including opportunity crops, as a resilience strategy. This study aims (i) to inventory the species cultivated by vegetable producers during the off-season in two peri-urban locations of Ouagadougou (Loumbila and the Green Belt), (ii) to determine the diversity level of both opportunity crops (OC) and dominant species (DS) inventoried, and (iii) to identify the factors contributing to the integration of OC into market gardening. Individual interviews were conducted with 76 farmers across the two locations during the off-season 2025 using systematic sampling. Both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted using R Software. The results underlined a clear ‘gender gap’ with women acting as the primary custodian guardians of OC. A strong socio-spatial divergence was also observed, with more interesting trends in Loumbila compared to the Green Belt. Non-significant correlation was revealed between the respondents’ age and species richness; suggesting that knowledge and interest in OC are not experiencing a generational decline. A total of 20 species, including 10 OC and 10 DS, were inventoried. However, the relative citation frequency and the Shannon diversity index H’ for the OC were significantly higher than those of DS, indicating a greater diversity of OC compared to DS. Amaranth was the most common in both locations (over 80%). Other leafy vegetables like Jute mallow and okra are also very popular, appearing in over 60% of market gardens. Opportunity crops cultivation is driven by market-oriented and subsistence strategies, where food security and economic profitability act as primary determinants, consistently exceeding 70% across gender and locations. The results underline the contribution of the OC to farmer resilience during the off-season in peri-urban areas of Ouagadougou.
Mots-clés
Agrobiodiversity, Food and nutrition security, Neglected and underutilised species, NUS, Orphan crops, Sustainable agriculture, SUSTLIVES.