Burkina Faso Flying – the Burkina Faso franchise for WeRobotics’ Flying Labs network of drones doing good – has joined hands with the Burkinabe government in the latter’s efforts to promote irrigation farming in agriculture.

The west African country relies heavily on agriculture, with is estimated to employ about 80 percent of the workforce. But with rainy periods becoming shorter due to climate change, the government is turning to irrigation to supplement farming efforts and ensure food security.

Burkina Faso Flying Labs is therefore lending its hand by launching a pilot project to develop irrigation systems.

These systems are designed to supply water to agricultural lands, boosting crop growth and productivity, to offer benefits such as increased yields, better water management, and soil erosion prevention.

For its part, the drone services provider’s task was to survey and map out the farming areas, which are large and vast, with a high degree of accuracy. Hence; the team chose to deploy the eBee X drone, largely for its ability to survey large areas with high accuracy.

The drone also had the added advantage of reducing costs by nearly 80 percent, when compared with traditional surveying methods

“West African farmers have experienced a 30-50 percent decline in agricultural yields, primarily due to erratic rainfall and persistent drought,” said Claudel Guiella, Project and Training Coordinator at Burkina Faso Flying Labs.

“This Flying Lab initiative is part of the Projet de Développement Hydroagricole de Soum (PDHS), led by the Burkina Faso government. It directly benefits more than 5,000 households, supported by a dam with a water capacity of 155 million cubic meters.”

The survey area flown by the eBee X drone covered 1,000 hectares in the village of Soum, Burkina Faso; and the primary goal was to make a rapid survey of the area for developing irrigations schemes, with a focus on ensuring smooth water flow from the beginning to the end of the land.

The eBee X drone can fly for up to 90 minutes and cover 500ha on a single battery, quickly surveying large areas. In contrast, with conventional surveying techniques, engineers must cover great distances, often walking miles to survey points.

The high-resolution maps produced by the eBee X enabled a detailed assessment of the condition of the existing irrigation channels. By identifying areas where the channels were degraded or obstructed by crop growth, stakeholders were able to plan necessary repairs and maintenance, ensuring optimal water flow and minimizing water loss.

“With over 200 farmers involved in the pilot project, it was essential to establish a clear irrigation schedule, allocate land sections, and plan water usage based on the specific location and needs of the farms,” read a report from AgEagle the anufacturers of the eBee X drone.

“The high-resolution orthomosaic maps generated by the eBee X and the Aeria X RGB drone camera enabled more accurate planning and monitoring, allowing for better management of water resources and reducing potential conflicts over water use.”

The drone company reckons the success of the pilot project, which helped design irrigation schemes benefiting over 5,000 households, could have significant implications for Burkina Faso’s national development strategy, which includes plans to develop more than 30,000ha of irrigated land.

“The project demonstrated that using drones for topographic surveys resulted in cost savings compared to traditional terrestrial tools. These were primarily driven by reduced time requirements for mapping, as well as lower personnel, equipment, and fuel costs.

“In just three days, the eBee X drone with an Aeria X RGB camera autonomously surveyed 1,000ha of agricultural land, using the eBee eMotion software to optimize flight paths.

“The time required to complete the survey was also significantly reduced, taking only six days — three for mapping and three for post-processing — enabling faster decision-making and planning.”