Burkina Faso is beginning to make green hydrogen a future pillar of its “agriculture-water-energy” strategy, with the aim of using this new sector to produce fertilizers, electricity, and clean fuels to support food security and the energy transition.
Green Hydrogen to Diversify the Energy Mix
At a workshop held in early February 2026, the Ministry of Energy presented green hydrogen as an emerging technology with strong potential to diversify the country’s energy mix and reduce dependence on fossil fuel imports.
Green hydrogen is obtained through the electrolysis of water, separating hydrogen from oxygen using electricity from renewable sources (solar, biomass, waste), making it an energy source with no direct CO₂ emissions.
Burkina Faso possesses three key advantages for this sector: exceptional sunshine, abundant biomass potential (agricultural residues, biodigesters), and growing energy needs for irrigation, food processing, and industry.
For authorities and researchers, green hydrogen is attractive because it addresses three urgent needs:
- Agriculture: the need for nitrogen fertilizers and energy to pump water, irrigate, and process crops;
- Water: making the most of water resources (surface and groundwater) by using solar energy for irrigation, while avoiding overexploitation;
- Energy: reducing the import bill for oil and ensuring access to electricity in rural areas.
Dr. Bruno Korgo, coordinator of renewable energy and green hydrogen at WASCAL, explains that green hydrogen allows for the local production of:
- fertilizers to boost a vital agricultural sector;
- electricity via fuel cells;
- synthetic fuels, without relying on fossil fuels.
Pilot projects already underway
The country is not starting from scratch. Several initiatives are already shaping this vision:
The PV2H project (Optimization of photovoltaic solar power for green hydrogen production in West Africa) is testing the technical feasibility of producing hydrogen from the Zagtouli solar power plant and other photovoltaic installations.
Studies are evaluating the potential for hydrogen production from biomass, based on a network of approximately 17,000 biodigesters already installed in the country.
A 1 MW waste-to-energy plant project is being studied in Ouagadougou to combine waste management and clean energy production.
According to Minister Yacouba Zabré Gouba, these technologies should gradually “complement existing solar energy solutions” and help “make energy more accessible.”
A lever for food security in the Sahel
In the Sahel, the FAO points out that significant groundwater reserves remain underutilized due to a lack of affordable energy solutions: solar power, and in the future, hydrogen, can be game-changers for irrigation and agricultural productivity.
The challenge for Burkina Faso is to combine:
- solar pumping and hydrogen to power modern irrigation systems;
- locally produced fertilizers to improve yields;
- energy storage (via hydrogen) to smooth out the intermittency of solar power and secure agri-food processing (refrigeration, grinding, storage).
In the long term, green hydrogen could become a tool for reducing rural poverty by simultaneously strengthening agricultural production, access to energy, and climate resilience.
Opportunities and challenges to overcome
The opportunities are real: international funding (Germany, World Bank), technology transfer, creation of skilled jobs, and positioning Burkina Faso within a promising sector in West Africa.
However, several challenges already exist:
- still high costs of electrolyzers and hydrogen infrastructure;
- the need for clear regulatory frameworks for water, energy, and the safety of installations;
- risks of over-extraction of groundwater if irrigation develops without strict governance.
The experts’ message is therefore twofold: yes, green hydrogen can become a pillar of the agriculture-water-energy triad in Burkina Faso, but only if it is deployed gradually, prioritizing water security, environmental sustainability, and the needs of small-scale producers.
