Burkina Faso and the CGIAR centers

Burkina Faso is a country with all the characteristics of underdevelopment. Agriculture is the main activity of 95 percent of the population. The country's economy is predominantly free enterprise. Since February 1985, Burkina Faso has been evolving a national program for agricultural and zootechnical research and has become involved in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In particular, it has collaborated with the institutes of the CGIAR, but within a new framework reinforcing the capacities for managing the research activities of the national agricultural research system (NARS). Until recently, the NARS has been managed by bilateral and, to a certain extent, multilateral scientific cooperation. Chapter 2 describes the structure of research and chapter 3 outlines the impact the CGIAR centers have had on that structure. It is shown that there is no objective national program of agricultural research in Burkina Faso; those research activities which are being pursued in the country are most often associated with "development projects" supported from abroad. The results of this research have been adopted by the rural community.