Organic agriculture has been present in Burkina Faso for more than 20 years, but is mainly intended for the export market. The high costs of third-party certification and the size of the domestic market do not always encourage operators to certify products for the domestic market.

The lack of an organized framework of actors involved in organic and ecological agriculture coupled with the absence of a national standard for organic production and processing are factors that led first to the creation of the National Council of Organic Agriculture (CNABio), and then to the establishment of the Burkinabe organic agriculture standard and the Participatory Guarantee System (PGS).

Created in March 2011, the CNABio is an umbrella organization that brings together some sixty actors including institutions and individuals (individual producers, NGOs, groups, companies, etc.). Its mission is to contribute to the development of agroecology in Burkina Faso by creating a legislative and regulatory framework favorable to the development of organic agriculture.

Established in 2013, the Burkina Faso BioSPG label is one of the first national organic labels in West Africa. The PGS is an alternative organic certification system, adapted to the local context and inexpensive. It is based on rigorous organic farming tools and standards that integrate all actors in the cycle: producers, processors, transporters, distributors, consumers and supporting associations and NGOs. The CNABio PGS organic standard was developed with the technical support of Helvetas and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). However, the process involved several categories of actors including the Ministry of Agriculture and Trade.

28 sites are currently certified in seven regions of Burkina for a total of 344 producers, including 18 private or associative farms (5%), with 270 women (78%) and 56 men (16%) and a total area of 67.32 ha. In addition, jobs were created in processing and marketing as well as additional seasonal and temporary jobs.

The advocacy actions carried out daily by the CNABio and its partners have allowed and are contributing to, among others

i. The appointment of an agroecology focal point at the Ministry of Agriculture;

ii. The recognition of farmers' seeds in the seed system;

iii. Access to land for producers, particularly women;

iv. The recognition of organic agriculture and agroecology in national texts and laws.

The creation of this umbrella organization has largely contributed to the improvement of the level of knowledge of agroecology and organic agriculture. Thus, the increase of the organic market has contributed to the increase of consumer confidence, the assurance of the producer himself, and the improvement of the collaboration between the actors of the value chain.

This factsheet is produced within the framework of the Avaclim project, which aims to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of agroecology in drylands. The international solidarity association CARI coordinates the Avaclim project while the Association for Research and Training in Agroecology (ARFA) carries out the implementation in Burkina Faso.