Winds of climate change blast farmers’ hopes of sustaining a livelihood in Burkina Faso
One afternoon towards the end of May a violent wind howled through Bogandi(C), the main town in Gnagna province, in eastern Burkina Faso. Raising a storm of dust and sand, it plunged the streets into semi-darkness, driving roaming goats crazy. In villages across Gnagna people connect these extreme climate events with deteriorating living standards. They explain how these increasingly frequent "red" winds wreak havoc, burying their crops in sand, destroying their homes, and spreading disease among their flocks.
In late May, on the great Gnagna plain, the earth is dry, with deep cracks. An occasional tree - usually red acacia (Vachellia seyal) - stands out as a patch of green. In the villages, most of the wells have dried up. It is the toughest part of the year, when reserves from the previous harvest run low and the next one is not yet ripe. And still there is no rain.
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