Burkina Faso

Country Description

An economy based mainly on agriculture (almost 30% of GDP), and 28% of the population engaged in subsistence farming, with cotton being the main cash crop. Other cash crops are groundnuts, shea nuts and sesame. Staple crops are pearl millet, sorghum, maize, and rice. It is also Africa's 4th largest producer of gold. Burkina Faso has rich deposits of gold, zinc, copper, manganese as well as iron, nickel, limestone, dolomite and phosphates. Abundant mineral resources are found along an arc from the country’s southeast to northwest. Gold reserves have grown rapidly in the past decade, with over 15 major discoveries since 2006.