Defying the Sahel: Burkina Faso Embraces Pineapple Farming for Food Independence

BOBO-DIOULASSO, Burkina Faso — The soil beneath Oumarou Compaoré’s boots is sandy and stony, hardly the lush terrain typically required for cultivating pineapples.

However, this farm represents a broader national effort to decrease import dependency and adapt to the increasingly harsh climate of Africa’s Sahel. Historically viewed as an exotic luxury cultivated by wealthier coastal neighbors, pineapples have traditionally been priced higher than the mangoes found outside many Burkinabe households.

“People told us that only cotton, maize, or sorghum could thrive here,” Compaoré stated at the farm he established in 2018 outside Bobo-Dioulasso. He navigates the area in a van adorned with the inscription, “Pioneer in pineapple production in the Sahel.”

Inspired in part by border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Compaoré’s pineapple initiative is among the unconventional projects challenging the notion that Burkina Faso must depend on its neighbors for much of its food supply.

“Because the fruit was in short supply, we could sell it easily,” Compaoré noted, having previously grown papayas with little financial return. His pineapple operation has since expanded to roughly 50 hectares (124 acres).

The nation’s military leadership has taken notice. Heavily focused on agriculture within their economic growth strategy, the government has officially included pineapples in its formal development plan to enhance food self-sufficiency for the country’s 24 million residents.

Although official government data on pineapple production remains unavailable, farmers report a growing interest in the crop.

By November, pineapple fields had expanded to approximately 100 hectares (248 acres) within the administrative region encompassing Compaoré’s farm, according to regional agriculture director Adanabou Eric Pascal. Kola Jean, the agricultural engineer at Compaoré’s farm who trains aspiring pineapple farmers, estimates that over 100 farmers have entered production.

Under Captain Ibrahim Traoré, who assumed power following a 2022 coup, Burkina Faso has framed domestic food production as a matter of national sovereignty.

The government suspended rice imports in April to foster local production and inaugurated two tomato paste factories—a local staple—in 2024.

At a major supermarket in the capital, Ouagadougou, a dedicated section features locally grown items—such as shea butter, corn and cassava flour, and mango juice—labeled, “Let’s consume what we produce.”

These initiatives are steps toward shedding the dependence on imports that has for decades exposed millions to fluctuating transport costs and severe price shocks.

Despite these efforts, hunger remains widespread. A decade-long security crisis, which has left jihadists controlling vast swathes of territory, has disrupted access to farmland and markets and displaced many. U.N. agencies report that approximately 2.7 million people face acute food insecurity during the annual lean season, when previous harvest stocks dwindle and market prices peak.

Mdme Kaba Séré, a pineapple farmer in Houet Province, previously worked in the nonprofit sector but transitioned to farming in 2023 after international aid cuts.

She recalls being told in her youth that pineapples could not grow in the Sahel, the arid strip south of the Sahara. That changed when Compaoré trained her in pineapple cultivation.

“Seeing what Oumarou was doing, we thought: It is possible, so why not?” Séré said, having expanded her farm to roughly 60,000 seedlings.

“With pineapples comes profit,” she stated. “It has impacted my entire family, as it has allowed me to support them.”

Because pineapples were long considered rare in Burkina Faso, farmers say the business remains lucrative, as buyers can be easily secured even before the fruit reaches the market.

However, significant hurdles remain, including the necessary investments in everything from fertilizer and irrigation to reliable transportation.

Pineapples demand a lengthy growth period of up to two years, along with reliable access to water. Compaoré noted that he irrigates part of his land using a well, but digging wells is an investment many farmers cannot afford.

The climate also poses challenges. Farmers are adapting by, for example, irrigating with cool water in the evening during extreme heat, said Pascal Bazongo, a professor of soil science and natural resource management at Burkina Faso’s University of Fada N’Gourma and an expert involved with Compaoré’s farm.

Compaoré remains optimistic about future innovations and improved yields. On recently acquired plots, approximately 30 workers moved through the field as music played from a loudspeaker, planting roughly 60,000 pineapple seedlings.

He expects the new fields to yield between 60 and 75 metric tons of pineapples, projecting a revenue of approximately 35 million CFA francs, or roughly $62,000.

“We could even make the country self-sufficient in this fruit,” he said.

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