Food Assistance Fact Sheet - Burkina Faso

Map of Burkina Faso
Map of Burkina Faso
May 7, 2018

Situation  

  • Limited livelihood opportunities and recurrent environmental shocks—such as droughts and floods—have contributed to food insecurity and malnutrition in Burkina Faso. In 2018, approximately 187,200 children under 5 years of age around the country will experience severe acute malnutrition, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports.

  • Insecurity in northern parts of the country is prompting population displacement. In April, the UN estimated that there were 23,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) across Burkina Faso. As of March 2018, Burkina Faso also hosted approximately 24,100 refugees from neighboring Mali, stretching the resources of Burkinabe host communities.

  • In northern Burkina Faso, many families’ food stores are nearly exhausted, driving increasing dependence on market purchases to meet daily needs. However, staple food prices are abnormally high, undermining access to food in markets, and the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) expects that some vulnerable households in the area will likely face Stressed (IPC 2) levels of food insecurity beginning in May. Although humanitarian actors are planning to distribute food assistance during the upcoming June-to-September lean season, they likely will not reach all people in need, and FEWS NET anticipates that some families will experience Stressed food insecurity until September.

* The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is a standardized tool that aims to classify the severity and magnitude of food insecurity. The IPC scale, which is comparable across countries, ranges from Minimal (IPC 1) to Famine (IPC 5).

Response

  • USAID’s Office of Food for Peace (FFP) supports the UN World Food Program (WFP) to provide emergency food assistance—such as in-kind food distributions, cash-based transfers for food, or asset-building activities that strengthen livelihoods and rehabilitate agricultural infrastructure—to vulnerable Burkinabe populations and Malian refugees across Burkina Faso. FFP also works with UNICEF to deliver locally procured ready-to-use therapeutic food to children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
  • Through non-governmental organization partners Catholic Relief Services and ACDI/VOCA, FFP also conducts longer-term development activities that strengthen food access and improve the health and nutrition status of Burkina Faso’s most vulnerable populations, including children under 2 years of age and pregnant and lactating women. FFP’s development interventions in Burkina Faso contribute to the USAID Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE) initiative, which aims to foster sustainable economic development, reduce malnutrition and boost populations’ capacity to cope with destabilizing shocks.

Food for Peace Contributions

Total Contributions:

  U.S. Dollars Metric Tons
Fiscal Year 2018 $3.0 million 2,202 MT
Fiscal Year 2016 $21.2 million 590 MT
Fiscal Year 2015 $24.3 million 1,490 MT

* Metric tonnage does not reflect funding for vouchers or cash transfers. 

 

Country Specific Guidance

Last updated: May 08, 2018

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