CERF allocates $2 million for emergency support in response to high food prices in Burkina Faso

12 September 2008: Rising food and fuel prices in Burkina Faso have caused the poorest households to exhaust all of their coping mechanisms. With a CERF grant of $2 million, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Food Programme (WFP) are seeking to help the most vulnerable.

FAO will use $500,000 to support 3,000 farming families grow their own food in urban and peri-urban areas, providing them with food and income. Their communities will also benefit from the increase in food in markets and a subsequent decrease in prices.

A CERF grant of $750,000 will allow WFP to assist 76,000 children under the age of two at risk of malnutrition. UNICEF, with a $750,000 grant, will focus its efforts on 5,000 severely malnourished children under five in inpatient and outpatient centers.

 [Last update: 23 September 2008]  

In 2007, Burkina Faso had the second lowest score on the Human Development Index, ranking 176 out of 177. Poverty is widespread, particularly in the rural areas, with more than 46 percent of the population living below the poverty line.  Food security is precarious despite important improvements in the agricultural sector.  

In 2008, the prevalence of acute and chronic under-nutrition surpassed emergency levels.  In response, CERF allocated $3.4 million through its first-round underfunded emergencies window. Underfunded grants were used to provide emergency agricultural assistance and nutrition programmes.

CERF in Burkina Faso 2007

CERF in Burkina Faso 2006