Expanding Rice Cultivation in Burkina Faso: Potential and Challenges

Climate change and food security have become a pressing concern in West Africa, where traditional rain-fed agriculture is threatened by increasing weather variability. To reduce dependence on imports, West African countries are seeking to expand domestic rice production in inland valleys and floodplains, which offer significant potential for rice cultivation. Researchers from the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) have conducted a study to assess the suitability and current extent of rice cropping in Burkina Faso, a country that exemplifies the challenges outlined above.

Key Takeaways:

• Burkina Faso's current rice cropping area is approximately 0.71% of its land, matching national FAO statistics (0.74%) and independent mapping efforts.
• Despite only 0.71% of the land being used for rice cultivation, approximately 10% of the national territory consists of inland valleys, which are biophysically suitable for rice cultivation.
• The southwestern regions of Burkina Faso show relatively stable climatic suitability, while the central and northern areas are more variable and vulnerable to drought, limiting their long-term potential without irrigation.
• The integration of climatic suitability and landform-based potential highlights considerable opportunities for expanding rice cultivation in Burkina Faso.
• The study provides a spatial decision-support framework for policymakers to guide sustainable intensification, reduce import dependency, and adapt agricultural systems to climate change.

Statistics:

• 0.71% of Burkina Faso's land is currently used for rice cropping (German Remote Sensing Data Center, 2025)
• 0.74% of Burkina Faso's land is used for rice cultivation, according to national FAO statistics (FAO, n.d.)
• Approximately 10% of Burkina Faso's national territory consists of inland valleys, which are biophysically suitable for rice cultivation (German Remote Sensing Data Center, 2025)
• 1999-2021 Climatic suitability from ERA5-Land reanalysis data, based on crop growth requirements of rice across different growth stages (German Remote Sensing Data Center, 2025)

Sources:

• German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD). Identifying potential for rice expansion in Burkina Faso: integrating EO and climate data for suitability mapping. Frontiers in Climate, 2025, 7.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). (n.d.). Rice production in Burkina Faso.
• NewsRx. German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) Researchers Describe Advances in Climate Research (Identifying potential for rice expansion in Burkina Faso: integrating EO and climate data for suitability mapping). Ecology, Environment & Conservation. October 17, 2025; p 438.