Abstract

In the watershed of the Nakanbé River in Burkina Faso, horticultural crops are financially profitable with high gross incomes, cost/revenue ratios and attractive hourly returns to labor. Based on a 6-h work day, profitability indicators of horticultural crops show that farmers are better-off compared to the ‘less than one dollar’ situation of people in Burkina Faso; horticultural crop production could thereby be an important part of a poverty reduction strategy in the studied sites and other rural areas. The proportion of efficient producers ranged from 35% for tomato in Ouonon to 100% for onion in Zekeze. Considering efficiency for individual crops, onion production in Zekeze was the most efficient, with a maximum score of (100%), followed by the production of cucumber in Ouonon and green beans in Kongoussi with respective scores of 98%. Inputs (seeds, fertilizers and pesticides) are used in excessive quantities which tend to reduce technical efficiency and could have negative environmental impacts. Improving horticultural crop producers' capacities to use appropriate rates of chemicals and organic inputs or biological treatments is recommended since the survival as well as the development of this kind of farming increases rural households’ incomes and supplies fresh food to an increasing urban population at a reasonable price.

Key words: Horticulture, cost/revenue ratio, hourly return, efficiency, input excess, environment, Burkina Faso.