Mossi Plateau

Mossi Plateau
Name	Mossi Plateau
Country	Burkina Faso
Region	Centre-Nord Region; Plateau-Central Region; Centre Region
Highest m	600

Mossi Plateau The Mossi Plateau is a broad elevated region in central Burkina Faso forming the core highland around which the Volta River basins drain. It is a physiographic unit bounded by the Sahel transition to the north, the Sudanian Zone to the south, and linking to the Guinean Highlands via westward plateaus; major settlements such as Ouagadougou, Koudougou, and Tenkodogo sit on or near its margins. The plateau has played a central role in the political and cultural formation of West African states, notably the pre-colonial Mossi Kingdoms and the colonial administration under French West Africa.

Geography

The plateau occupies the central sector of what is administratively divided into regions including Centre-Nord Region, Plateau-Central Region, and parts of the Centre Region of Burkina Faso. Elevation generally ranges from about 300 to 600 metres above sea level with local inselbergs and ridges; drainage is chiefly into the tributaries of the White Volta and the Black Volta, and smaller internal catchments feed seasonal ponds known locally as bara. Important towns—Ouagadougou (national capital), Koudougou (industrial centre), Ziniaré (provincial seat)—are located on the plateau’s gently undulating surface. Transportation corridors link the plateau with the Bam Province to the north, the Hauts-Bassins Region to the west, and routes toward Ghana to the south. The plateau’s position affects regional hydrology and has historically provided strategic vantage points for states such as the Kingdom of Ouagadougou.

Geology and Soils

The underlying geology is dominated by Precambrian crystalline basement rocks related to the West African Craton, overlain in places by lateritic duricrust and regolith developed during Cenozoic weathering. Lateritisation produced iron- and aluminium-rich hardpans that influence water infiltration and root penetration; saprolite and saprolitic clay horizons occur where weathering is deep. Soils are typically ferruginous tropical soils and tropical ferralsols with variable depth, supporting millet and sorghum on shallower sols and cotton on deeper profiles. Patterns of soil fertility and erosion have been shaped by episodes of expansion and contraction of the Sahara and Holocene climatic shifts, with archaeological sites often preserved on resistant outcrops and in buried palaeosols.

Climate

The plateau has a tropical wet-and-dry climate controlled by the seasonal migration of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone; rainfall is highly seasonal with a main rainy season from May to October and annual totals that decrease from south to north across the plateau. Temperatures are high year-round with pronounced diurnal and seasonal variation; harmattan winds from the Sahara Desert bring dry, dusty conditions in the dry season. Climatic variability, including multidecadal droughts linked to Atlantic sea-surface temperature anomalies, has influenced transhumant patterns and agricultural cycles across the plateau and adjacent plains.

Flora and Fauna

Vegetation on the plateau reflects its position between Sahelian and Sudanian biomes: wooded savanna with scattered trees such as Vitellaria paradoxa (shea tree), Isoberlinia doka, and parkland mosaics with cultivated trees occur where human land use permits. Faunal assemblages historically included African savanna mammals such as African buffalo, savanna elephant populations in remoter times, and diverse antelope species; smaller mammals, reptiles, and avifauna—e.g., Aquila rapax and many passerines—persist in remnant woodlands and riparian strips. Biodiversity has been altered by land conversion, fire regimes, and hunting pressures intensified since contact with neighboring polities and colonial markets.

Human History and Archaeology

The plateau is closely associated with the emergence and consolidation of the Mossi-speaking polities from around the 11th–15th centuries CE, including centers of power that engaged in trade and conflict with neighboring states such as the Ghana Empire successor polities and the Songhai Empire. Archaeological investigations have documented ironworking sites, storage pits, ceramic traditions, and terraced fields that attest to long-term sedentary agriculture and specialist craft. Colonial incorporation into French West Africa reshaped administrative geography, labor systems, and infrastructural links, with missionary activity and missionary schools influencing cultural change. Oral traditions tied to royal lineages remain a major source for reconstructing pre-colonial chronology and state formation.

Demography and Ethnic Groups

The plateau is predominantly inhabited by Mossi-speaking peoples who constitute one of the largest ethnolinguistic groups in Burkina Faso, with significant populations of Gourounsi, Bissa, Fulani (Peul), and Dioula communities in different zones. Urban centers such as Ouagadougou have become ethnically cosmopolitan hubs with migration from rural provinces and neighboring countries including Mali and Ivory Coast. Social organization traditionally revolves around chieftaincy and lineage systems linked to the royal institutions of the Mossi kingdoms, while contemporary political and civil structures operate within the national framework of Burkina Faso.

Economy and Land Use

Land use on the plateau is dominated by subsistence and cash-crop agriculture—millet, sorghum, maize, and cotton—with increasing market gardening around urban areas supplying produce to cities like Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. Pastoralism by Fulani herders and mixed farming systems coexist with expanding artisanal mining and quarrying for lateritic gravels used in construction. Rural livelihoods are affected by soil degradation, variable rainfall, and national policy measures originating in the colonial and post-colonial eras; development projects implemented by international organizations and national ministries target water provision, soil conservation, and urban infrastructure improvements. Trade routes connect the plateau to regional markets in Accra, Abidjan, and Ouagadougou’s growing commercial networks.

Category:Landforms of Burkina Faso Category:Plateaus of Africa