Burkina Faso

Hunger from Conflict & Climate

The arid, Sahel nation faces a multidimensional crisis driven by conflict, political instability and the climate crisis. Millions are going hungry. WFP is delivering immediate food assistance and helping people build resilience against climate shocks.
WFP/Evelyn Fey
Make a difference in Burkina Faso

Hunger Stats

Violent conflict in Burkina Faso is driving people from their homes and into poverty and hunger.

Burkina Faso Facts

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Population: 22.1 million people.
Background: Burkina Faso gained its independence from France in 1960 as Upper Volta, then renamed to Burkina Faso in 1984.
Geography & Climate: As a landlocked country in West Africa, Burkina Faso is bordered by Mali, Niger, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The country has a tropical climate with a rainy and dry season. Located in the Sahel Region, it is highly susceptible to extreme weather events of droughts and flooding.
Economy: On the Human Development Index, Burkina Faso ranks 184 out of 191 countries. 40% of its population lives below the poverty line and over 80% rely on subsistence agriculture for their food.

Causes of Hunger

WFP/Marwa Awad

History of Hunger in BUrkina Faso

Hunger Relief Burkina Faso

We’ve been in Burkina Faso since 1967. Through conflict and climate disasters, we’ve provided food for people in need. Even as increasing violence causes more displacement and poses a security risk for WFP operations, we continue to deliver food and help build resiliency against climate shocks, helping over 3 million people in Burkina Faso last year.
a woman picks up a bag of food
Food & Cash
As violent attacks and displacement continues, we provide emergency food assistance to people across the country including internally displaced persons, refugees and host families.
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Burkina Faso, Dori, Sahel Region, 12 January 2017

WFP provides daily breakfast and lunch to school children in the Sahel region, giving take-home rations to girls to encourage gender equality in school attendance. School meals include fresh, locally-produced yogurt.

Photo: WFP/Simon Pierre Diouf
School Meals
Since 2004, we have supported the government by implementing a school meals program, including take-home rations. Last year, we fed over 480,000 schoolchildren in Burkina Faso.
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mother in COVID face mask feeding her young boy
Child Nutrition
With malnutrition rates above emergency thresholds in parts of Burkina Faso, we help prevent and treat malnutrition in children as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
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In Louda, Centre-Nord in Burkina Faso, the market garden is part of WFP's resilience activity, aiming to go beyond food assistance. 
There are currently over 1.1 million internally displaced people in Burkina Faso who are displaced due to insecurity. In 2020, WFP provided life-saving assistance to 920,000 IDPs.
Many of these displaced people rely on food assistance for more than two years. 
 
The market garden project aims to promote social cohesion and reduce the strain IDP's put on the hosting communities' scarce resources (such as access to food, water etc.)
In this market garden, both IDP's and the hosting community members work side by side to grow vegetables for home consumption and selling. This resilience project allows people to acquire new agricultural skills, generate an income and have access to nutritious fresh fruits and vegetables.
Resilience Building
We help boost farmers’ resilience against climate shocks by providing storage technologies, training to reduce food loss and climate insurance in towns likely to be affected by drought.
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Lastest News

WFP Kicks off Major Lean Season Response in West Africa Amid Dwindling Funding for Humanitarian Operations