Burkina Faso turns to pineapples in push for food sovereignty

A pineapple pioneer in the Sahel

In the sandy, stony soil of landlocked Burkina Faso, farmer Oumarou Compaoré is cultivating a crop once considered out of reach: pineapples. His farm, founded in 2018 outside the western city of Bobo-Dioulasso, is part of broader national efforts to reduce reliance on imports and adapt to the harsh climate of Africa's Sahel region.

"People told us that here we could only grow cotton, maize or sorghum," Compaoré said, driving around in a van inscribed with the words "Pioneer in pineapple production in the Sahel." The fruit, long seen as exotic and more expensive than the mangoes growing outside many homes, is now a growing part of his livelihood. His pineapple field has expanded to about 50 hectares (124 acres).

Compaoré's pivot to pineapples was inspired in part by border closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, when imported fruit became scarce. "Because the fruit was in short supply, we were able to sell it easily," he recalled. He came from a family of farmers — his grandfather won awards for farming under former president Thomas Sankara — though he said there was pressure growing up to pursue bureaucratic work instead. "But somewhere, I still had this attraction, this love of agriculture," he said.

A symbol of sovereignty

The pineapple push has not gone unnoticed. Burkina Faso's military leaders, who have modeled their leadership on Sankara, have made agriculture central to their economic growth plan, and pineapples are now part of the government's formal development plan as it seeks to boost food self-sufficiency for the country of 24 million people.

The fruit has become a symbol of sovereignty in Burkina Faso, according to Africa News. Pineapples are grown inside a military base in the capital, Ouagadougou, and in April a basket of pineapples sat beside the Burkinabé flag as military leader Ibrahim Traore gave an hours-long interview on state TV.

The government's push extends beyond pineapples. In April, Burkina Faso banned rice imports with the stated goal of facilitating local production, and authorities have boasted about increased tomato paste output. Two factories for tomato paste were inaugurated in 2024, according to the Associated Press.

Growth and challenges

Though there are no available government data on pineapple production, farmers say more are venturing into the crop. As of November, pineapple fields had expanded to around 100 hectares (248 acres) in the administrative region that includes Compaoré's farm, according to regional agriculture director Adanabou Eric Pascal, who spoke to local media at the time. Kola Jean, the agricultural engineer at Compaoré's farm who helps train other farmers, estimated that over 100 farmers are now getting into production.

One of them is Kaba Séré, who switched to farming in 2023 following international aid cuts. She has expanded her farm to about 60,000 seedlings. Séré said she was told when young that Sahelian countries could not grow things like pineapples. "When we saw what Oumarou was doing, in reality, we knew that it was feasible," she said.

Compaoré expects his new fields to produce between 60 and 75 metric tons of pineapples, with projected revenue of about 35 million CFA francs.

A history of self-reliance

The push for food sovereignty taps into a deeper narrative. Beverly Ochieng, senior analyst at Control Risks, said food sovereignty is part of Burkina Faso's social fabric. She quoted Sankara, the revolutionary leader who renamed the country from Upper Volta: if people wanted Burkina Faso to be less dependent on aid, they would provide tractors and fertilizer.

Compaoré echoed that sentiment, recalling lingering stereotypes about what the Sahel could produce. "There were stereotypes. We ourselves were victims of this," he said. "We said to ourselves that we are in a Sahelian country. All we can do at the end of the day is cotton, corn, sorghum."

As Burkina Faso pursues greater self-reliance, the pineapple fields carving out space in its arid soil have become a tangible challenge to those assumptions — and a marker of the country's ambitions.