The unsuspected effect of grain storage in Burkina Faso

The countries of the Sahel, regularly hit by episodes of food insecurity, are particularly vulnerable during the "hunger gap", when stocks of cereals (millet, sorghum and corn) from the previous year run out, before the onset of the new harvest. A situation which has a direct impact on cereal prices. Because, within a year, prices increase by an average of 40% between harvest and lean seasons. However, in addition to low stocks, families no longer have enough liquidity to obtain supplies on the markets, entering vicious circles of debt. In Burkina Faso, to deal with this phenomenon, agricultural producer groups, in collaboration with microfinance institutions, have been implementing peasant “warrantage” since 2005. The principle: in exchange for a loan from a banking or microfinance institution, producers store part of their harvest in a collective warehouse, which constitutes the guarantee – “warrant”, in English – of the credit obtained. Which allows these farmers not to be ...