Food security is a major challenge for developing countries. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) are a source of income for families, improving their living conditions. Tamarind is a NTFP used for many purposes, both for food and industrial purposes. However, it suffers from pest attacks. This study aimed to evaluate the post-harvest practices of tamarind fruits and the constraints related to its storage in the communes of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou. A survey conducred in the form of a semi-structured interview toward 113 respondents in Bobo-Dioulasso and 138 in Ouagadougou. The participatory diagnosis showed that the majority of respondents in Bobo-Dioulasso (70.19%) and Ouagadougou (57.33%) considered insects to be the main cause of damage to the pods. We observe a preponderance of perforated beans (63.16%) in Ouagadougou, while in Bobo-Dioulasso the percentage was 29.85. After collecting the pods, 78.95% of the farmers in Ouagadougou dehull the pods immediately and then keep the pulp without further drying, in contrast to Bobo-Dioulasso (16.67%) where only a minority practice this. More than half of the interviewers sell tamarind to meet specific needs. As for control methods, the main ones are steaming of tamarind used by 72.92% of farmers in Ouagadougou, while in Bobo-Dioulasso only 25.64%. These results show that tamarind pods are highly exposed to insect attacks. It is therefore necessary to investigate the improvement of traditional control methods by including other natural alternatives in order to minimize losses and promote tamarind exploitation.

Shea kernels are generally stored by Burkinabè households. A prospective study conducted in Ziro province revealed the damage caused by insects. The objective of this study was to inventory the pests associated with shea kernel stocks. Samples of shea kernels were collected from farmers’ stocks in three localities of the province over a six-month period. At each period, 4 samples were taken from each locality to constitute 12 batches that were brought to the Laboratory of Fundamental and Applied Entomology of the Joseph KI-ZERBO University. Each batch was analyzed and kept for insect emergence monitoring for 45 days. Six (06) species of predators were identified, among which Ephestia cautella (Walker) was the most abundant (87.33% of individuals). Four (04) species of the order Coleoptera, were recorded with proportions of individuals lower than 4%. Bracon hebetor (Say), a parasitic Hymenoptera, was recorded with a proportion of 7.26%. The rate of perforation of kernels, which was significant at the beginning of storage (28.87%), increased progressively to reach a maximum of 57.73% after six months of storage. It is important to study the behavior of H. hebetor toward E. cautella in order to clarify its status and possibly consider the implementation of a biological control against this pest.

The reduction of the losses post-harvest can contribute to the attack of the food self-sufficiency and the backing of the food security in Burkina. It is in this perspective that this survey has been undertaken and consisted to the assessment of the losses post-harvest of the pennisetum and sorghum in the townships of Ziniaré in the region of the Central Tray and Komki-Ipala in the region of the Center. This assessment carried at home on the links harvest, drying, transportation of the fields and beating / vannage. Iit had for objective to determine the level of the losses. The rate of the quantitative losses is determined according to the methodology of the FAO. The analysis of the sorghum losses revealed 6,33 % to the harvest, 8,63 % to beating / vannage, 2,2 % to the drying and 0,3 % to the transportation at home, for the two townships. So the losses accumulated of sorghum have been estimated to 17,46 %. The losses post-harvest of the pennisetum recorded to the harvest is estimated on average to 6,76 % and 12,53 % to the operations of bombardment / vannage. The heap of the losses of the pennisetum bound to the operations of harvest and bombardment / vannage has been valued to 19,3 %. These results show that the losses post-harvest stays important. The losses of financial incomes by agricultural household are estimated in 55 875 FCFA for sorghum and 42 000 FCFA for the pennisetum. By extrapolation, the quantitative losses of the two cereals considered value themselves to 30 784 tons about for the two regions with an economic value closely 4,336 FCFA billions.