Burkina Faso is facing a humanitarian emergency due to a rise in instability in several parts of the Sahel. This is a real concern for food security especially during the lean season between June and September - when food is most scarce before the next harvest.  The instability in the Sahel and parts of Burkina Faso has led to the closure of health centres and schools, which has affected nearly 330,000 children. Internal displacement has also increased five-fold from December 2018 to now – with nearly 240,000 people fleeing their homes.

WFP is stepping up food assistance for people affected by the growing emergency as well as communities struggling to feed themselves in the lean season.  WFP has supported more than 100,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) from January to July 2019. The plan is to gradually scale up to 220,000 IDPs by the end of the year and start assisting communities hosting IDPs. In addition, for the lean season, WFP will be assisting approximately 257,000 people via food or cash distributions. WFP is also continuing resilience and development activities to prevent vulnerable communities from sliding deeper into food insecurity and malnutrition.  

The Executive Director of WFP, David Beasley alongside Assistant Executive Director, Valerie Guarnieri visited Burkina Faso from 12 - 14 August, 2019. Beasley and Valerie travelled to Kaya in the Centre-North region of Burkina Faso where WFP has been working with communities as part of interventions to scale-up resilience across the Sahel region. They met women and men who have been working with WFP to restore degraded land, which enables them to improve cereal production.

In the Photo: WFP Executive director, David Beasley greets a local farmer in Kaya, Burkina. Farmers in Kaya provided several hectares of land to internally displaced people to help them grow their own crops.