THE WHITE VOLTA SUB-BASIN - Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta Sub-Basin - page 36

1993). For example among most communities in the Comoé Province in
Burkina Faso land inheritance is still matrilineal, so land stays within the
mother's clan over the generations. Sons inherit uplands from the brothers of
their mothers, while daughters inherit their mothers' plots in the bas-fonds.
Matrilineal inheritance has slowly been changing towards patrilineal
inheritance, especially in the uplands (van Koppen, 1998).
Government Policy on Irrigation
The current government policy on irrigation development focuses on two
areas:
 Promoting small-scale irrigation at the village level by encouraging
the use of treadle pumps for maize and cowpea growing during the
dry season;
 Lowland development targeting partial water control. Families or
cooperatives are encouraged to develop these lowlands. Hence, in the
rainy season, they grow rice on the minor bank, and sorghum or
maize on upper sides of the lowlands.
Hydro-Political Water Governance in Burkina Faso
In 2002, Burkina Faso's water institutions underwent another restructuring,
targeting the implementation of the Integrated Water Resources
Management (IWRM) Programme. An action plan for the Integrated Water
Resources Management Programme was adopted in 2003. The IWRM
involves the State, the local communities and the users (Ministère de
l'Agriculture de l'Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques 2003). The
objectives of the ongoing action plan for IWRM are to:
 Redefine the role of the State in water resources management;
 Establish the National Council on Water as a national organ,
designed for the concerted management of water resources and
associating the State, local communities, the private sector and the
civil society in its various components;
 Define new management approaches on the basis of the river basin as
the appropriate arena for planning and managing water resources;
 Develop and strengthen human resources in the field of water.
An inter-sectoral executive coordination was created at the national,
regional, provincial and local levels, to motivate and seek opinions on water
development projects at all levels (Ministère de l'Agriculture de
l'Hydraulique et des Ressources Halieutiques 2003).