11 September 2026 |Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso’s agriculture ministry requested a written summary of recommendations from a National Policy Conference convened by PEP-supported researchers. The recommendations respond to evidence that information alone cannot overcome the financial, water and service barriers limiting solar irrigation.
Participants at the national conference on solar pumping in Burkina Faso, held at Université Joseph KI-ZERBO in Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso’s Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Animal Resources and Fisheries asked for a written summary of recommendations presented at a National Policy Conference convened by PEP-supported researchers in Ouagadougou. The recommendations will help the Ministry consider how to expand solar irrigation without increasing dependence on imported equipment and services.
The conference brought together 47 participants at Joseph Ki-Zerbo University. Representatives from government, renewable-energy companies, universities, research organisations, finance providers, producer associations and farming communities discussed why farmers remain slow to adopt solar water pumps.
Participants identify conditions for sustainable adoption
Participants expressed broad support for solar water pumps while raising concerns about equipment quality, after-sales service and access to water. They recommended assembling more equipment locally, making spare parts available in rural areas, training technicians to provide services near farms and establishing quality standards to keep substandard equipment off the market.
What the research found
Dr Agnès Zabsonré presented findings from research conducted with Soumaïla Gansonré, Rita Nikièma, Edmond Lankouandé, Sie Mohamed Barro and Roukièta Bonkoungou. Their study examined whether reducing knowledge constraints could improve farmers’ attitudes towards solar water pumps, their intention to adopt the technology and their willingness to pay.
The randomised evaluation involved 1,748 producers from 175 agricultural cooperatives in the Kadiogo and Oubri regions. The intervention combined information on the costs and benefits of solar irrigation, a practical demonstration by Africa Energy Solaire, information on credit from the microfinance institution GRAINE and testimony from a farmer who had used the technology. The final survey followed 1,701 producers, representing 97.3% of the original sample.
The community sessions increased farmers’ knowledge of solar pumps by between 10.5 and 13 percentage points. However, they did not produce a statistically significant change in farmers’ strict intention to adopt the technology. Potential intention to adopt increased by 11.9 percentage points, indicating underlying demand that remains constrained by cost. Direct participants recorded stronger gains, while the effects of information shared indirectly within cooperatives were weak and not statistically significant.
The findings identify high upfront costs, uncertain access to water, liquidity constraints and limited coordination between producers, suppliers and financial institutions as continuing barriers. The research recommends combining information and practical demonstrations with affordable financing, including subsidised credit or instalment-based payment models, and targeted support for women farmers and women-led cooperatives.
Agriculture officials consider the evidence
Alassane Guiré, Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water, Animal Resources and Fisheries, highlighted the case for moving away from diesel- and petrol-powered irrigation. He also cautioned that expanding the use of imported pumps without local capacity to manufacture, repair or replace them could create a new form of dependence.
At his request, Donatien Bonkoungou, Director of Irrigation Development, prepared a two-page synthesis of the recommendations raised during the conference to guide follow-up. Bonkoungou also linked the findings to a major agricultural initiative planned for 2026–2028. With funding of nearly CFAF 840 billion, the initiative includes 179 boreholes equipped with solar-powered pumps and more than 16,000 hectares of irrigated land.
The conference also created new contacts between Agence Faso Vêenem, Burkina Faso’s public agency for renewable energy and energy efficiency; the General Directorate for Industrial Development; and Endeavour Mining Burkina, a gold-mining company operating the Houndé mine. These contacts opened opportunities for further collaboration and policy engagement around solar irrigation.
Conference coverage extends the research’s reach.
The conference and research findings reached a wider audience through video reports by Faso7, a Burkinabè online news outlet, and BF1 TV, a Burkinabè television channel. The reports highlighted the barriers limiting agricultural solar-pump adoption and the technology’s continuing low uptake among producers in Kadiogo and Oubri.
The research was conducted with financial and scientific support from the Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP) as part of the Rural renewable energy MSMEs operating to modernise agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia programme, implemented in partnership with the Environment for Development initiative, with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) as part of the Clean Energy for Development: A Call to Action (CEDCA) initiative.
