Population: 20.4 million WFP In Numbers Country Brief 4,586 mt of food distributed March 2021 USD 2.4 million of cash distributed

USD 139 million six months (April-September 2021) net funding requirements

738,071 people assisted 52% 48% in March 2021

Operational Updates Assistance to internally displaced persons (IDPs): In March, WFP assisted 476,624 IDPs in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-Est, Operational Context Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel , with both cash-based Burkina Faso is a semi-arid country in the Sahel. Its population is transfers (CBT) assistance and in-kind food assistance. Food was

estimated at about 20.9 million, with 40 percent who live below distributed along with nutritional products to 15,332 pregnant and lactating women and girls (PLWG) and 36,171 children aged 6-23 the poverty line. Most of the population depends on one season of rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods, leaving the country months. WFP is conducting sensitisation sessions at field level to vulnerable to the impact of climate shocks. The rising insecurity move from status-based to vulnerability-based targeting, in a way continues to deteriorate across all , to prioritize assistance to poor and very poor IDPs. Vulnerability- resulting in a massive population displacement. As of 31 March based assistance will be fully effective starting from April 2021, 2021, over one million people had been officially displaced. Food thus reducing WFP caseload by assisting those most in need, and and nutritional security across the country is critical – with 2 ultimately being able to address new displacements, when they occur. million people facing food insecurity - and COVID-19 has added an additional layer of vulnerability to an already fragile situation Assistance to refugees: A total of 8,772 Malian refugees residing (Cadre Harmonisé March 2021). Overall, 9.1 percent of children in the Sahel benefitted from WFP March emergency aged 6-59 months suffer from acute malnutrition (2020 SMART operations. WFP distributed CBT assistance via direct cash to National Nutrition Survey). refugees of Goudébou camp (Dori), reopen since December 2020. Refugees of Mentao camp (Djibo) were provided with coupled in-

To respond to the food and nutrition assistance needs in Burkina kind food rations for the months of March and April. Faso, Mali and Niger, WFP has declared a Level 3 emergency in the three Central Sahel countries. WFP operations in Burkina Nutrition: 45,347 cases of acute malnutrition were detected Faso include emergency food assistance to internally displaced among children aged 6-59 months and PLWG and then referred to persons and host families, refugees and lean season affected health facilities, to which WFP provides nutritional products. people; school feeding including emergency school feeding Activities were carried out in the Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-

programme and support to a local yogurt production project; Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel. treatment and prevention of malnutrition; food assistance for Education: WFP continued to assist displaced and host families' assets for small-scale agriculture; Smallholder Agriculture Market children through emergency school feeding activities (in the Support (SAMS) project to support food system value chain Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel regions) and to support the development; micro-insurance (R4) and macro-insurance (African Government’s school feeding programme through regular school Risk Capacity); national capacity strengthening; provision of feeding activities (in the ). A total of 136,126 information and communication technology, logistics, United schoolchildren benefited from school meals. In order to promote Nations Humanitarian Air Service, and other support to partners girls’ education, this included 16,070 girls who were also provided as needed. WFP has been present in Burkina Faso since 1967. with dry take-home rations.

Social protection: WFP started a new safety net and livelihood project in favour of 2,500 vulnerable adolescent girls residing in peri-urban neighbourhoods of , through CBT assistance to a first caseload of 473 households. Project is implemented in collaboration with the Permanent Secretariat of the National Council for Social Protection (SP-CNPS). Future activities will include enhancing beneficiaries’ self-reliance via 0 professional trainings and start-up kits.

Resilience: WFP and FAO launched a joint project to strengthen 2019 Human Development Index: Population: 20.9 million 182 out of 189 countries the resilience of vulnerable agropastoral households affected by insecurity in the Nord region. The project was launched on 25 Chronic malnutrition: March in , with the presence of the Minister of Income Level: Low 25% of children aged 6-59 months Agriculture and Ambassador of Belgium.

Main photo: Credit: WFP/ Esther Ouoba Following the realisation of two pilot “happiness gardens” in 2020 Caption: Beneficiaries growing their happiness garden (Koria, Sahel region). in the Sahel region, WFP constructed 33 more in March. Happiness Contact info: Florine Jobin Yaméogo ([email protected]) gardens are located inside or in the nearby of the house and are Country Director: Antoine Renard Further information: www.wfp.org/countries/burkina-faso characterized by a raised structure.

WFP Country Strategy This type of vegetable garden produces more food than a

Country Strategic Plan (2019-2023) standard garden and aims to provide households with organic 2021 Total Requirement 2021 Allocated Six months Net Funding *Sixvegetables Month Net throughoutFunding the year. The key to its functioning is (in USD) Contributions (in USD) Requirements (in USD)* Requirementsthe composter, (in USD)* located in the centre of the garden, in which 330 m 58.2 m 139 m organic69 waste m is transformed into nutrients. WFP started this *Six-months Net Funding Requirements as of 6 April 2021. initiative at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to enable communities to be more resilient to restrictions such as Strategic Result 1: Everyone has access to food markets and borders closure. Programme will be scaled up so Strategic Outcome 1: Crisis affected populations, including refugees, IDPs and host that every household of the resilience programme in the Sahel communities in targeted areas are able to meet their basic food and nutrition needs during region has its own happiness garden. and in the aftermath of a crisis Focus area: Crisis Response Capacity strengthening: During the month of March, WFP Activities: continued to strengthen the Government’s logistics capacities. • Provide an integrated assistance package including food assistance, school On one hand, WFP handed over IT equipment to the Technical meals, and specialized nutritious food to refugees, IDPs, host population, children and PLW/Gs affected by climate shocks, conflicts, and other Secretariat for the Improvement of Food and Nutrition for disruptions. Mothers and Children (STAN), with the objective of facilitating

Strategic Outcome 2: Food insecure populations including school-age children, in targeted coordination activities of multisectoral nutrition interventions. areas have access to adequate and nutritious food all year-round On the other hand, WFP supported the Regional Directorates Focus area: Resilience Building of Agriculture in the Centre-Nord, Est, Nord and Sahel regions Activities: though the provision of vehicles and technical equipment, • Provide school meals to vulnerable children during the primary school year, which will allow them to further enhance the quality of including take home rations for girls. • Provide assistance through CBT to beneficiaries targeted by government social interventions among communities. safety nets including capacity strengthening for adolescent girls. United Nations Humanitarian Air Service Strategic Result 2: No one suffers for malnutrition In March, UNHAS facilitated 55 flights transporting 184 Strategic Outcome 3: Nutritionally vulnerable populations including children aged 6-59 passengers, serving 16 user organizations, and reaching 13 months, pregnant and lactating women and girls (PLW/Gs), antiretroviral therapy (ART) localities. A new UNHAS flight schedule took effect on March clients, in targeted areas have improved nutritional status all year round th Focus area: Resilience Building 8 , offering a fourth regular weekly flight and second rotation per location, as well as five new destinations. Activities: • Support beneficiaries through the provision of specialized nutritious food and integrated programmes (including SBCC) to manage acute malnutrition and Logistics Cluster prevent stunting. The Logistics Cluster’s community of partners approved its Strategic Result 4: Food systems are sustainable Terms of reference. Five regional logistics planning maps (Boucle du Mouhoun, Centre-Nord, Est, Nord, and Sahel) and a Strategic Outcome 4: Smallholder farmers and communities including those affected by recurrent climate shocks, in targeted areas have more resilient livelihoods and sustainable map of the flood frequencies in Burkina Faso were published. food systems by 2023 Focus area: Resilience Building The common storage unit in Kaya (Centre-Nord region) has reached its maximum capacity (620 m2) by being occupied by Activities: • Support targeted groups through livelihood and asset creation, gender- four actors, one Non-Governmental Organization and three responsive and nutrition sensitive value chain development, weather insurance UN agencies. schemes, and innovative production technologies and practices.

Strategic Result 5: Countries have strengthened capacities to implement the SDGs Monitoring/Evaluation WFP and the Burkina Faso National Food Security Stock Strategic Outcome 5: National institutions have strengthened capacities to manage shock- Management Entity (SONAGESS) published the interim report responsive systems, food security, nutrition and social protection programmes and policies by 2023 of an in-depth study on agricultural markets in Burkina Faso. Focus area: Root Causes This study made it possible to evaluate the real impact of the

Activities: successive crises that the country has experienced over the • Provide capacity-strengthening support including emergency response, early past ten years on agricultural markets, and to measure their warning systems, supply chain, National P4P, weather insurance, nutrition- level of functioning. It showed that interventions using CBT are sensitive social safety net data collection and management, to national institutions and partners. feasible on all the country's markets, with some risks on those of Arbinda and Gorom-Gorom in the Sahel region, Gayéri in Strategic Result 8: Global partnership support the East region, and Founza in the Hauts-Bassins region. Strategic Outcome 6: Humanitarian and development partners have access to common services to access and operate in targeted areas throughout the year Although the results of the updated March Cadre Harmonisé Focus area : Crisis Response (CH) outline that 2 million people are facing food insecurity,

Activities: the food consumption indicators are better than usual due to • Provide technical assistance through the Emergency Telecommunications good harvest and the impact of food assistance. However, over Sector/cluster to national disaster management offices and other relevant 2.8 million people are projected to be in food security phase 3- partners to strengthen emergency communication and coordination mechanisms. 4 across the country during the lean season (June - • Provide on-demand services to the Government, humanitarian and September). Two provinces in the Sahel region are expected to development partners. • Provide humanitarian Air services to national disaster management offices and be in phase 4 (emergency) and 11 provinces in phase 3 (crisis). other relevant partners to access areas of humanitarian interventions. • Provide logistics expertise and coordination services to partners in absence of Challenges

alternative to ensure humanitarian assistance as well as other supply chain Urgent funding is needed for the upcoming lean season, as services in order to support effective and efficient humanitarian response. currently less than 30 percent of the required resources is available for WFP to assist 1.4 million vulnerable people for WFP BURKINA FASO Country Brief three months. March 2021 Burkina Faso’s 2020 Annual Country Report available here.