Burkina Faso

WeWorld has been present in Burkina Faso since 1985. In over 40 years we have taken action in different areas of the country to guarantee food and health through the involvement of associations and communities and thus contributing to their consolidation and strengthening.

Burkina Faso has one of the highest rates of chronic malnutrition in Africa and the world, 15% of children under 5 years old suffer from it. Due to inadequate eating habits, children suffer from a chronic micronutrient deficiency, which causes severe retardation in physical and intellectual growth.

Chronic malnutrition depends on a complexity of causes, which is why an integrated approach is needed that acts on the emergency but builds the capacity for a long-term solution.

To cope with this emergency, we have launched various interventions, in particular: the training of local medical-health staff; the organisation of campaigns in the villages to treat malnourished children; the construction of new health centres for the care of the children, most seriously ill, together with their mothers.

Furthermore, for the most vulnerable families, we have guaranteed economic assistance through cash or food vouchers, which are useful tools to support small traders and local farmers.

In view of this commitment, in 2017 WeWorld was named "Knight of the Order of Merit" by the Grand Chancellery of the Government of Burkina Faso, in recognition of the work carried out, aimed at strengthening the resilience of the most vulnerable communities and at guaranteeing food security in the regions of the North and of the Sahel.

The recent political instability has made the situation in the country worse, especially due to the continuous incursions of radical armed groups in the Northern regions of the country.  

In this context, and in the face of the crisis in the Northern regions, we have activated interventions to strengthen the vulnerable communities in the provinces of Soum and Loroum, on the border with Mali.  

Our intervention consists in guaranteeing the basic needs of the population through: the prevention of malnutrition; the promotion of farming and consumption of local products, such as enriched flours and moringa (drumstick tree) as a food supplement, and by improving the access to drinking water and sanitation in the health centres. 

Almost 3,000 of the most vulnerable families could benefit from the programme. Thanks to the cash transfer mechanism, they have received a sum between 15 and 30 euros every month and for 16 months in order to buy food and meet the most urgent and necessary expenses. 

The families were also supported and followed to initiate or strengthen income-generating activities and to improve the agro-pastoral production capacities for them to become secure sources of subsistence. In addition, the programme includes an engagement with the local authorities, which are supported in order to strengthen their crisis management capabilities.