Agroclimatology of West Africa: Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, where 90% of the populat ion depends upon subsistence agr icul ture for its livelihood, both the amount and distribut ion of rainfall during the growing season markedly determine the agricultural productivity. In this study, the temporal variability in rainfall over Burkina Faso is described at different scales: annual, seasonal,monthly, and decadal. Rainfall dependability is explained using probability analysis of decadal totals. Monthly means of maximum and minimum air temperature are used to compute the probabilities of temperatures exceeding defined threshold levels. Simple water balance model sare used to describe the variation in available soil-moisture storage and water-availability periods for different locations. Applications of the analysis of climatic data in crop planning are presented.