Country study Burkina Faso 
Biodiversity 

5.2 SOCIO-ECONOMIC VALUE OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

The uses that the Burkinabè population make of the constituent elements or products of the biological diversity are numerous, but the main ones are: human feeding, energy, health, domestic needs, handicraft, industry, trade, animal feed, culture, tradition, religion, rituals, etc.

The socio-economic value of biological diversity resides not only in the direct use that one makes of biological resources, but also in the indirect uses, such as the ecological services (eg. : improvement of the quality of water and air, the fixing of nitrogen, the formation of soils), socio-cultural uses (eg. : religious and cultural functions), recreational and aesthetic uses (eg. : tourism of vision), etc. These uses end up at the level of feeding and the different sectors of activity that are interested in biological diversity.

Thus, some thematic studies made in the context of the present monograph permitted to determine the following supplies of biological diversity to the national economy in 1996:

• Standing wood : 177, 394 million m3;
• big fauna: 35 species whose inventory in not yet exhaustive;
• fisheries: 12, 500 tons per year, of which only 7 000 tons are exploited;
• forest and fruit seedlings produced in nurseries: 12 million of which only a maximum of 4 million is transplanted;
• cereals: 2,.963,.300 tons of which 129,700 tons of rice;
• proteaginous: 665,000 tons of which 177,600 tons for cotton, 194,400 tons for groundnuts and 41,170 tons for tubers;
• livestock (bovines, ovine, caprines, porcines, asines, equines, camelins): 18 million heads (breeding contributes 12% to the GDP and 16% to exports);
• rabbits: 67,000 heads;
• pets (dog and cats): 900,000 heads;
• poultry: 22 million heads.

In addition to these elements, there is also the contribution of tourism of vision to the national economy; for example, this contribution was 17,791, 548 US dollars in 1993.

Due to the socio-economic and sociocultural importance of the national biological diversity, measures and policies of natural resources management have been developed since the colonial period.

5.2.1 BENEFITS OF BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES

The economy of Burkina Faso essentially depends on agro-pastoral produce, therefore on biological diversity. Indeed, it is this diversity that constitutes the source of subsistence of the populations and that provides the essential of export produce and products among which we can cite cotton, green beans, livestock, leathers and skins, sheanuts, etc.

Benefits derived from biological resources in Burkina Faso depend on the virtues that the different ethnic groups of the country give to the species. Indeed, it must be noticed that the importance of a plant or animal species, through its products, is relative and evolutionary: relative when we consider the diversity of uses within ethnic groups, evolutionary because with time a product can be the object of great interest or of no interest on the part of the populations. For example, the use made of Acacia macrostachya seeds (Acacia with thick ears) for feeding in the Moosé and Samo areas is completely unknown to a lot of other ethnic groups in Burkina Faso. Also, the benefits that will be mentioned below are those that are the most commonly known.

5.2.1.1 Plants (flora)

The main types of products derived from plants in Burkina Faso are shown in table 30

Table 30: Plant products

Plants	Types of products
Ligneous	Timber
	Firewood
	Lumber
	Charcoal
	Oilseeds
	Kapok
	Gum and resin
	Copal
	Tannins
	Rubber
	Bamboo
	Fruits
	Food (grains, leaves)
	Medicines
	Fodder
	Others (Ornament, rope, mats and secos, chairs and beds, shade, poison, chewing stick, utensils …)
Herbaceous	Food (cereals, leguminous, tubers)
	Market garden produce
	Cotton
	Sugar cane
	Medicines
	Fodder
	Building materials (straw, fibres)
	Others (weaving)

These benefits are derived from the flora, either in the wild or tamed state. It is important to underline that the number of species established by type of product is not even determined with accurateness. Nevertheless, this document presents the existing data below, particularly, with regard to the importance of the socio-economic and socio-cultural ligneous species that are relatively more studied in this respect, a few data on the agricultural herbaceous species of marked economic interest.

5.2.1.1.1 Inventory of ligneous species of socio-economic importance

In the main document of the Strategic Plan of Scientific Research (agricultural research section), and for the improvement of forest resources, fifty six (56) species among the most utilised in Burkina Faso were indexed (Table 31)

On the basis of a listing according to nine types of uses: human food, energy, health, domestic needs, handicraft, industry, agriculture, animal feed and ecological interest, sixteen species were retained for the programme of forest resource improvement according to their degree of use. These species, by their wood and various non-ligneous productions that they offer, are of marked socio-economic importance.

They are: 
Acacia albida, Acacia senegal, Adansonia digitata, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Azadirachta indica, Balanites aegyptiaca, Borassus aethiopum, Butyrospermum paradoxum, Detariun microcarpum,Khaya senegalensis, Maerua crassifolia, Parkia biglobosa, Prosopis africana, Sclerocarya birrea, Tamarindus indica and Ziziphus mauritiana.

On the basis of the nomenclature of AUBREVILLE A., 1949, for woods, and various studies on species of various interest (BOGNOUNOU O., 1987; GUINKO S., 1985; PERROT E., 1925 ; etc.), an open list can be drawn concerning species of marked socio-economic interest in Burkina Faso.

This list is global, and does not take into account the parameter of diversity of uses according to the ethnic groups and ecological zones. Indeed, it must be admitted that the importance of a plant species, through its productions is relative and evolutionary: relative if we consider the diversity of use among the different ethnic groups, relative and evolutionary through history and dependent on the economic demand of the moment, especially in market economy.

Thus, the seed of Acacia macrostachya is at the basis of the highly appreciated culinary specialty in the Mossi, Samo, and Léla areas. This use is totally unknown in the Bwaba areas, pending its discovery in the context of exchanges by contact between migrating populations and the native ones. The edible leaves of Pterocarpus lucens are not eaten among the Bobo and Bwaba populations, whereas they are the basis of a highly appreciated sauce in the Samo and Yadga areas.

Table 31: Most commonly used ligneous species in Burkina Faso

Species	Degree	Species	Degree
1. Acacia albida	8	29. Fagara xanthoxyloide	8
2. Acacia macrostachya	2	30. Gmelina arborea	4
3. Acacia nilotica var. adansanii	6	31. Guibourtia copallifera	4
4. Acacia nilotica var. tomentosa	6	32. Guiera senegalensis	6
5. Acacia nilotica senegal	7	33. Hyphaene thebaica	6
6. Adansonia digitata	7	34. Holarrhena floribunda	8
7. Afzelia africana	6	35. Isoberlinia doka	2
8. Anogeissus leiocararpus	7	36. Khaya senegalensis	10
9. Azadirachta indica	7	37. Landolphia heudelotii	2
10. Balanites aegyptica	7	38. Lannea microcarpa	5
11. Blighia sapida	8	39. Maerua crassifolia	8
12. Bombax costatum	6	40. Mitragyna inermis	2
13. Borassus acthiopum	7	41. Nauclea latifolia	2
14. Boscia senegalensis	2	42. Parinari curatelifolia	2
15. Boswellia dalzielli	1	43. Parkia biglobosa	8
16. Butyrospermum paradoxum	10	44. Prosopis africana	7
17. Canarium schweinfurthii	1	45. Pterocarpus erinaceus	5
18. Ceiba pentandra	5	46. Pterocarpus lucens	5
19. Celtis integrifolia	4	47. Rauvolfia vomitora	8
20. Combretum micranthum	5	48. Saba senegalensis	2
21. Commiphora africana	2	49. Salvadora persica	1
22. Crateva religiosa	1	50. Sclerocarya birrea	8
23. Daniellia oliveri	6	51. Sterculia setigera	8
24. Dalbergia melanoxylan	4	52. Tamarindus indica	9
25. Detarium microcarpum	7	53. Vitex doniana	2
26. Diospyros mespiliformis	8	54. Voacanga africana	8
27. Entada africana	5	55. Ximenia americana	5
28. Eucalyptus camaldulensis	6	56. Ziziphus mauritania	5

Degree of use (1 = least utilised species; 10 = most utilised species)
Source: Scientific Research Strategic Plan.

After this qualitative presentation of the main species of socio-economic interest, some data on their products that follow permit to situate their importance in the Burkinabè economy.

Historically the region of Bobo-Dioulasso was at the beginning of the century an important producer of natural rubber. From the natural planting of Landolphia heudelotii, the region provided in a year (KNIGHT A., 1905) seventy (70) tons of rubber. The introduction of hevea unfortunately ruined this economic hope. However, during World War II, Burkina and the different States of the ex-AOF (French West Africa), provided 3,446 tons of Landolphia heudelotii rubber as their contribution to the war effort against Hitlerien fascism (AUBREVILLE A., 1949). The latex of the liana still continuues to be exploited but it is used solely as "dissolution" for the retreading of tyres.

If Carapa procera was exploited at the beginning of the century for its oilseeds (the demand was high from Marseille), the tree is only quite important locally. The seed continues to provide oil used in cosmetics and soap factory; ground, it is used in pharmacopoeia as anti-diarrhoeal and to attenuate the effect of palm wine from Borassus aethiopum.

As for Canarium schweinfurthii, Emile PERROT (1925) signalled the sale of balls of resin gums of this essence on the Orodara market. The incense of the country continues to be used and commercialised, but it remains of local importance as well as the resin gums of other Burseraceaes (Commiphora africana, Boswellia dalzielii).

We can signal as a source of vegetable fat Pentadesma butyracea giving Lami butter. Forgotten by AUBREVILLE A. in his excellent work that is his Sudano-Guinean Flora; this relict tree forms some small populations in Tagara and the region of Sokouraba in the province of the Kénédougou.

The enumeration could be long. We are therefore going to limit the list voluntarily. In placing ourselves from the point of view of the centre of interest of the foresters, it appears to us interesting to deliver the economic appreciation of Aubréville on the plant productions of the forest species of the dry regions of West Africa, productions that did not benefit from enough interest like those of the dense forest regions.

a) The main types of ligneous production

The local species (AUBREVILLE A., 1949) will be enumerated by main type of production by taking up the author's nomenclature. The scientific partners are actualised in taking up those in force in the last edition of Flora of West Tropical Africa of Hutchinson L.J. & Dalziel J.M. revised by Hepper F.N.

• Ebony tree

The main species that provide wood for woodwork are :

• Mahogany of Senegal, Caïlcédrat (Khaya senegalensis) : dense, colourful Mahogany, used for artisan manufacture of most furnishings;
• Vène (Pterocarpus erinaceus) : this essence gives a light yellowish, brown veined violaceae wood with polished beauty;
• Ebony of Senegal (Dalbergia melanoxylon) : veined wood, classified as ebony.

• Timber

The list of species that provides wood for building is composed of :

• Khaya senegalensis;
• Pterocarpus erinaceus;
• Dalbergia melanoxylon;
• Afzelia africana, of the best dry woods,;
• Isoberlinia doka;
• Acacia nilotica variety adansonii / tomentosa variety, gases to tannifer pods;
• Erythrophleum guineense;
• Afrormosia laxiflora;
• Anogeissus leiocarpus;
• Prosopis africana, wood very hard;
• Celtis integrifolia;
• Diospyros mespiliformis;
• Daniellia oliveri, wood of caisserie,;
• Acacia sieberiana;
• Borassus aethiopum, the trunk used whole or split, constitutes a precious construction material for building bridges;
• Hyphaene thebaica, important construction material in Sahelian zones where construction materials are relatively rare.

• Firewood and charcoal

Wood constitutes the main source of energy in Burkina Faso. Also, we can easily understand the importance given to firewood by the populations of the country. Except for some essence and tree specimen that are the object of socio-cultural value and Stereospermum kunthianum of which the inhalation of the smoke makes man feel dizzy, all the other species are used as firewood. Species with hard wood are used for charcoal (e.g. : Butyrospermum paradoxum, Pterocarpus erinaceus (vene), Pterocarpus lucens, Tamarindus indica, Diospyros mespiliformis, etc.)

• Oilseeds

Sheanut tree (Butyrospernum paradoxum) : its seed gives consistent fat (shea butter) with multiple uses (food, cosmetics, pharmacopoeia, etc.).

• Kapok trees

These are the productive kapok species, such Bombax costatums and Ceiba pentandras.

• Gum trees

Gum is an exudation that is produced in the dry season on the trunk of some plant species, essentially of the Acacia kind. The gum produced by Acacia senegal is one of the best, both by its adhesive properties and water solubility. The very dense species (more than 100 trees per hectare), dense (30 to 100 trees per hectare), less dense (5 to 30 trees per hectare) are especially important in zones of Sahelian climate.

Besides Acacia senegal, other species produce gum. These are : Acacia seyal, Combretum nigricans, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Sterculia setigera, Acacia nilotica.

• Copalierses

Guibourtia copallifera, species exuding a hard copal called copal of Guinea.

• Tannins species

Acacia nilotica variety adansonii, Acacia nilotica variety tomentosa, Acacia nilotica variety nilotica, Burkea africana, Hymenocardia acida, Bridelia ferruginea.

• Latex

• Landolphia heudelotii
• Manihot glaziovii
• Butyrospermum paradoxum

• Bamboos

There is only one species of bamboo that grows naturally in Burkina Faso ; it is about Oxytenanthera abyssinica, that provides hollow bamboo.

A particular mention must be made of the different wood species used in handicraft, construction and for different services, species for which the demand remains permanent. GUINKO S., 1984, gives many examples of them.

If the availability of some species (Lannea microcarpa, Sclerocarya birrea, that are used for making wooden bowls) are relatively important, others are becoming rarer and rarer because of some overexploitation and difficulties of natural and assisted regeneration. We will mention species such as Pseudocedrela kotschyii, Prosopis exelsa, as well as the particular case of relict forest gallery species (Chlorophora africana, Antiaris afticana), exploited by modern sawmills in the province of Comoé.

b) Ligneous species of other interests

We will mention some groups of species which deserve a particular attention. These are : improvable fruit species by selection or grafting, improvable ornamental plants by selection or stuffing, trees with food organs (leaves, fruits, seeds), medicinal plants, local ligneous species of fodder interest.

• Improvable fruit species by selection or grafting

This list is inspired by Roberty,1950, but it has been improved.

Annona senegalensis	Blighia sapida
Cordia myxa	Detarium microcarpum
Diospyros mespiliformis	Gardenia erubescens
Lannea spp.	Nauclea latifolia
Parinari curatelifolia	Saba senegalensis
Sclerocarya birrea	Spondias mombin
Strychnos spinosa	S. innocua
Tamarindus indica	Vitex doniana
Ximenia americana	Ziziphus mauritiana

• Ornemental plants

Various acacia in quickset hedges	Erythrina senegalensis
Cassia sieberiana	Feretia apodanthera
Heeria insignis	Securidaca longepedunculata
Stereospermum kunthianum	Strophanthus sarmentosus
Bauhinia rufescens	Darlings nucifera

We can add to this list the different shade trees or trees with landscaped function (Ficus sp., Cola cordifolia, Khaya senegalensis, etc.) and the various species of ritual value.

• Food organ (leaves, fruits, seeds) trees

Acacia macrostachya (seeds)
Adansonia digitata (leaves, fruits)
Afzelia africana (leaves)
Annona senegalensis (flowers, fruits)
Balanites aegyptiaca (leaves, fruits, seeds)
Bombax costatum (flowers, chalice, in the Moosi area, Bissa, Lela...)
Boscia senegalensis (fruits)
Capparis corymbosa (fruits)
Crateva religiosa (leaves)
Detarium microcarpum (fruits)
Diospiros mespiliformis (fruits)
Lannea microcarpa (fruits)
Lannea acida (fruits)
Ficus gnaphalocarpa (leaves, fruits)
Maerua angolensis (leaves)
Piliostigma reticulatum and P. thonningii (leaves) acidification of
water for the cooking of "tô"
Pterocarpus lucens (leaves)
Securidaca longepedunculata (leaves)
Tamaridus indica (leaves, fruits)
Vitex doniana (leaves, fruits)
Ziziphus mauritiana (fruits)

• Remarkable medicinal plants

Acacia albida	Mentha piperita
Agave sisala	Mentha viridis
Allium sativum	Moringa oleifera
Arachis hypogaea	Parkia biglobosa
Azadirachta indica	Pisum sativum
Balanites aegyptiaca	Punica granatum
Cajanus cajan	Rauvolfia vomitora
Capsicum annum	Ricinus communis
Capsicum frutescens	Saccharum officinarum
Carapa procera	Securidaca longepedunculata
Carica papaya	Sesamum indicum
Cassia italica	Solanum nigrum
Cassia occidentalis	Sterculia setigera
Cassia sieberiana	Strophantus hispidus
Catharanthus roseus	Tamarindus indica
Citus limonum	Thevetia neriifolia
Darlings nucifera	Tinospora bakis
Combretum micranthum	Trichilia roka
Cymbopogon citratus	Voacanga africana
Datura stramonium	Xanthoxylum xanthoxyloides
Danillia oliveri	Zea mays
Elaeis guineensis medicinal	Zingiber officinale
Elaeis guineensis
Glicine soy
Holarrhena floribunda
Lawsonia alba
Lawsonia inermis

• Perfume plants

Ocimum spp.	Mentha spp.
Cymbopogon citratus	Cymbopogon giganteus

•  Local ligneous species of fodder interest

All zootechnicians (GILLET, H., 1980) now agree to set to about 20% the minimum ligneous fodder part in the food ration of bovines in the dry season, in Sahelian and North-Sudanese zones.

Because of their richness in proteins, mineral salts, phosphorus and oligo elements, these species contribute in a non-negligible manner to the food and physiological balance of the livestock. In addition, their availability (leaves, flowers, fruits) in full dry season, when there is no grass, contributes to the survival of livestock during the critical periods. The ligneous species presented in Table 32 have an aerial foliage that contains a high nutritious value:
As far as fruits are concerned, in spite of the limited knowledge on their nutritious value, they are of a non-negligible contribution. Here are two examples for illustrative purposes:

	Proteins (%)	Phosphorus (%)
Acacia albida	11.7	0.12
Balanites aegyptiaca	11.2	0.12

• Food complement of plant origin (sources: BOGNOUNOU O., 1978; SAVONNET G., 1973; SCHNELL R., 1957; PROST A. and WEDRAOGO J., 1951).

These foods are provided by the simple picking of organs (leaves, fruits, seeds, tubers, rhizomes, roots etc.) of spontaneous plants not being part of an agricultural network, or at the stage of protoculture (case of Gynandropsis gynandra). From food point of view, their importance is not to be underestimated, because these plants contribute, in a direct or indirect way, to food balance, notably in the period of scarcity.

Food complements available in Burkina Faso and analysed by ORANA, Dakar, are:

• Starchy food : Tacca involucrata; Walnut and graines : Adansonia digitata, Balanites aegyptiaca, Boscia senegalensis, Parkia biglobosa;
• Vegetables and leaves: Adansonia digitata, Amaranthus viridis, Cassia tora, Corchoru olitorius, Ficus gnaphalocarpa, Hibiscus sabdariffa, Moringa pterygospenna (Mr. Oleifera), Amaranthus spinosus, Piliostigma reticulatum, Ceratotheca sesamoïdes, Crateva religiosa, Gymnandropsis pentaphylla (G. Gynandra), Leptadenia lancifolia (L. hastata);
• Fruits : Adansonia digitata, Cola cordifolia, Diospyros mespiliformis, Landolphia heudelotii, Parkia biglobosa, Borrassus aethiopum, Detarium microcarpum, Ficus gnaphalocarpa, Landolphia senegalensis, (Saba senegalensis), Spondias mombin.

Plants that give food complements in period of scarcity are: Dactyloctenium aegyptium, Setaria pallidefusca, Slylochiton hypogaeus.

Table 32: Nutritional Values of some ligneous fodder species
(according to LE HOUEROU H.N., 1980)

Species	Raw proteins (%)	Phosphorus (%)	Non-silicate minerals (%)	Degree of appetence (scale: 1 to 5)
Acacia radianne	16	0.20	7.50	5
Acacia senegal	22	0.20	8.00	5
Acacia seyal	18	0.27	0.20	5
Balanites aegyptia	25	0.11	10.00	5
Cadaba farinosa	25	0.20	30.00	4
Celtis integrifolia	11	0.20	12.50	5
Commiphora africana	11	0.17	9.40	5
Acacia albida	17	0.25	6.30	5
Khaya senegalensis	15	0.16	6.40	5
Maerua crassifolia	20	0.12	14.50	4
Lonchocarpus laxiflorus	18	0.13	?	4
Pterocarpus erinaceus	15	0.15	7.60	5

Degree of appetence: (1 = little appete; 5 = very appete)