I completed my doctoral thesis with financial support from the European Union through the SustainSahel project. This work began on 1 March 2021 and the thesis was defended on 05 September 2024 at the Nazi BONI University, Burkina Faso. The thesis was carried out under the supervision of my thesis committee and the scientific direction of Dr Kalifa COULIBALY and Dr Hassan Bismarck NACRO, all teacher-researchers at the Nazi BONI University.
The work on our thesis was an integral part of the WP5 activities, which aimed to assess the effects of shrubs and trees on soil functioning. The thesis enabled me not only to deepen my knowledge of agroforestry and soil science, but also to improve my organisational skills in working as part of a network with stakeholders from different backgrounds (soil scientists, biologists, zootechnicians, sociologists, modellers, farmers, breeders, technicalservices for agriculture, animal resources and the environment, farmers' organisations, etc.).
Over the last three and a half years, I have been fully involved in the project's activities. To this end, I took part in the project's annual meetings in Burkina Faso and Mali. At the national level, I regularly took part in the national meetings of the various WPs, the meetings of the innovation platforms set up by the project and the farmer dissemination days.
In terms of scientific output, I have published two articles, and a third, of which I am co-author, has been submitted for publication. I also took part in international scientific events, presenting the results of my work. These include the World Congress on Agroforestry in July 2022 in Canada, the African Congress on Conservation Agriculture in June 2023 in Morocco, the Conference on Sustainable Intensification in April 2024 in Senegal and Tropentag in Austria in September 2024.
The doctoral thesis, which was defended on 05 September 2024, was entitled: Effects of agroforestry park management methods on the physio-chemical and biological properties of soils and crop yields in the northern Sudanian and sub-Sahelian zones of Burkina Faso. The main results achieved were as follows:
- the density of 2,000 plant/ha of Piliostigma reticulatum, on-station, improved the permeability of the soil and the level of organic matter in the soil compared to those of 500 and 1,000 plant/ha during the first campaign of experimentation;
- sorghum and cowpea yields in association increased with increasing densities of P. reticulatum;
- farms with shrubs on field improved soil permeability and soil organic status compared to farms with trees; however
- farms with trees on field improved sorghum productivity compared to those with shrubs.
A sincere thank you to the European Union for its commitment to science in general and agricultural research in particular. Our thanks also go to all the partner institutions of the SustainSahel project for the convivial moments and the sharing of experiences that enriched our work.
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