Can The Soum Dam Contribute to Sustainable Food Security for The Local Population (Burkina Faso)?

Abstract

Large dams were built to address local and regional development issues in Burkina Faso. Socio-economic life is punctuated by the impoundment of the large soum dam in central- western Burkina Faso. The aim of this study is to assess the sustainability of food security following the impoundment of the soum dam. To this end, a methodology based on surveys coupled with observations was used. The data collected were processed using descriptive statistics, food consumption scores and household food diversity scores. The study revealed that, as a result of the multitude of agricultural activities around the dam, local residents have a high level of household food availability. What's more, with the financial resources derived from the sale of market garden produce, many producers buy cereals to bolster food availability. As a result, the diet of local residents is diversified. This improves the diet. However, the drop in the price of market garden produce during the sales period could jeopardize the sustainability of food security for local residents, because the fall in income undoubtedly reduces the purchase of meat and dairy products. All this will reduce the diversity of food consumed by people living near the Soum dam.

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