Burkina Faso on OneWorld
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| Child in Burkina Faso © Geoff Sayer / Oxfam Great Britain |
Burkina Faso illustrates the debate about development in Africa with painful clarity. A strong case can be argued that the country’s desperate poverty is caused by factors beyond the control of its own government. Exports of the dominant cash crop are undermined by unfair US cotton subsidies, local industries are run down by rules imposed by international financial institutions and shoestring agriculture is threatened by climate change. Such a perspective insists that these are the issues obstructing progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in Burkina Faso and beyond.
updated January 2009
Poverty in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. The 2008 UN Human Development Index places it 173rd out of the 179 countries listed, with over 70% of the population living on less than $2 a day. Many key development indicators are falling behind, even in relation to the average for Africa, and progress is hampered by high population growth of 3% pa.
The poverty benchmark adopted for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stood at 44.5% in 1994 but has remained stubbornly in excess of 40%, defying efforts to halve the rate by 2015. Literacy is another area failing to respond to investment, the rate for the 15-24 age group being as low as 39% in 2007. The ratio of girls to boys enrolling in primary education is below 80% and completion rates are very poor. The government now provides free education in 45 priority provinces, an initiative which may be extended to all regions by 2011.
A "needs assessment" for the MDGs conducted in 2007 suggested that an investment of $200 per capita of population is required every year until 2015. Delivery of development programmes has been slowed by the capacity limitations of government institutions. For their part, the global donor agencies are devoting more efforts to combining their aid programmes in order to increase efficiency of implementation.
Health and HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso
An example of this joint aid resolve is the massive $1.2 billion commitment to water and sanitation by a consortium of development banks and bilateral agencies. Whilst there has been progress in the provision of safe water, about a quarter of the population lacks access. Sanitation has been seriously neglected and coverage remains under 30%.
The donors have clearly identified this sector as a foundation for stabilising the chronic health problems experienced in Burkina Faso. Over 5 million cases of malaria were reported in 2007, creating disproportionate demand on limited health services and causing the greatest number of deaths. Emergency vaccination programmes feature at regular intervals in response to threatened outbreaks of polio, meningitis and yellow fever.
Rates of maternal and child mortality remain unacceptably high and the slow pace of improvement is far below that necessary to attain the MDG targets. For example, according to the World Bank, infant mortality fell from 107 only to 96 deaths per thousand births in the decade to 2005. A major cause is acute malnutrition which affected over 35% of children aged under five in 2007. A fifth of new mothers are themselves malnourished and only 56% of mothers had qualified assistance in giving birth in 2007.
The target to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS is the MDG for which Burkina Faso has demonstrated the most success. Prevalence fell to 2.7% in 2006, almost half the rate in 2003. Strategies to fight the disease have included co-operation with traditional healers whose influence in their respective communities makes them essential partners. Nevertheless, widespread poverty and illiteracy will continue to threaten the advances that have been made. Prevalence in the capital, Ouagadougou, is over double the national average. The strategic plan for 2006-2010 has the ambitious target of providing antiretroviral treatment to 90% of those in need.
Food Security in Burkina Faso
Whilst the incidence of child malnutrition does not correlate precisely with the availability of food, the haphazard track record of Burkina Faso’s food security is nevertheless a major factor. With 80% of the population engaged in subsistence rain-fed agriculture, the country is greatly dependent on predictable and steady rainfall. As in most of West Africa, reality rarely meets this need as the Burkinabes suffer a succession of floods and drought which create serious food shortages.
In 2007 the country experienced 8 major floods in the rainy season with inevitable results for the harvest. Forced to spend around three-quarters of their incomes on food, households were in no position to cope with the increase in prices that occurred during the first half of 2008. Urban poverty increased and food riots broke out in Ouagadougou and other cities. A coalition of trade unions and community groups organised a national strike. The government responded by reducing import and sales taxes, an approach criticised by the IMF which favours more direct support such as school feeding and reduced fees for health and education.
In 2008 nature has been much kinder and the government itself reversed its policy of non-intervention in agriculture. Harvests yielded a substantial surplus over domestic needs. Rice production was three times that of the previous year. Prices in markets have fallen considerably but remain well above the levels prior to the 2008 crisis. It is too early to assess the impact on poverty but the government promises to continue its support for farmers in the shape of subsidised seed and fertilizer.
Climate Change in Burkina Faso
The potential climate footprint of the rich on the poor is nowhere better illustrated than in Burkina Faso. The 2008 review of the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) refers to the “persistent vulnerability of many households to climate and price shocks”. There is already evidence of increasing frequency of extremes of flooding and drought. The National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) envisages that gradual temperature rise in the period to 2050 will result in net reduction in rainfall, less availability of water, a loss of crop production and drastic loss in pasture due to desertification.
The NAPA suggests that the priorities for adaptation are improved prediction of extreme weather events and investment in irrigation. The government already sponsors mass tree planting schemes in an attempt to counter the desertification that results from extensive clearance of forested areas for household purposes.
The Economy in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is landlocked, chronically short of power, and over-dependent on cotton as the key source of foreign exchange. As many as 3 million livelihoods may be linked directly or indirectly to the crop whose fortunes are highly vulnerable to world commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. Cotton prices are volatile but have been broadly in decline since 2003 and in real terms are at their lowest level since the 1930s. This slump has acted as a brake on economic growth in Burkina Faso and hampered investment in the cotton industry.
The primary cause of global overproduction and weak cotton prices is the US government's persistence in paying subsidies to cotton farmers which at around $2 billion pa are of similar order to the entire public expenditure of the Burkina Faso government. Although the World Trade Organisation has upheld a protest from Brazil against unfair subsidies, the US has prevaricated over implementation of the ruling. Desperate for higher prices and yields, the Burkinabe farmers are experimenting both with organic cotton and with genetically modified seeds, the two strategies inevitably raising difficult conflicts of interest.
Burkina Faso has been a slave to the economic prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF and, by the benchmarks of these institutions, has a stable economy with satisfactory rates of growth and inflation. Debt is also under control thanks to the debt cancellation package announced at the July 2005 G8 summit. Nevertheless, Burkina Faso remains highly dependent on foreign aid which accounts for almost half of the government's budget.
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| Out-of-school children in Burkina Faso © UNESCO - Communication, Information and Informatics Sector |
The poverty benchmark adopted for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stood at 44.5% in 1994 but has remained stubbornly in excess of 40%, defying efforts to halve the rate by 2015. Literacy is another area failing to respond to investment, the rate for the 15-24 age group being as low as 39% in 2007. The ratio of girls to boys enrolling in primary education is below 80% and completion rates are very poor. The government now provides free education in 45 priority provinces, an initiative which may be extended to all regions by 2011.
A "needs assessment" for the MDGs conducted in 2007 suggested that an investment of $200 per capita of population is required every year until 2015. Delivery of development programmes has been slowed by the capacity limitations of government institutions. For their part, the global donor agencies are devoting more efforts to combining their aid programmes in order to increase efficiency of implementation.
Health and HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso
An example of this joint aid resolve is the massive $1.2 billion commitment to water and sanitation by a consortium of development banks and bilateral agencies. Whilst there has been progress in the provision of safe water, about a quarter of the population lacks access. Sanitation has been seriously neglected and coverage remains under 30%.
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| Burkina Faso: vaccinations for meningitis ©MSF |
Rates of maternal and child mortality remain unacceptably high and the slow pace of improvement is far below that necessary to attain the MDG targets. For example, according to the World Bank, infant mortality fell from 107 only to 96 deaths per thousand births in the decade to 2005. A major cause is acute malnutrition which affected over 35% of children aged under five in 2007. A fifth of new mothers are themselves malnourished and only 56% of mothers had qualified assistance in giving birth in 2007.
The target to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS is the MDG for which Burkina Faso has demonstrated the most success. Prevalence fell to 2.7% in 2006, almost half the rate in 2003. Strategies to fight the disease have included co-operation with traditional healers whose influence in their respective communities makes them essential partners. Nevertheless, widespread poverty and illiteracy will continue to threaten the advances that have been made. Prevalence in the capital, Ouagadougou, is over double the national average. The strategic plan for 2006-2010 has the ambitious target of providing antiretroviral treatment to 90% of those in need.
Food Security in Burkina Faso
Whilst the incidence of child malnutrition does not correlate precisely with the availability of food, the haphazard track record of Burkina Faso’s food security is nevertheless a major factor. With 80% of the population engaged in subsistence rain-fed agriculture, the country is greatly dependent on predictable and steady rainfall. As in most of West Africa, reality rarely meets this need as the Burkinabes suffer a succession of floods and drought which create serious food shortages.
|
| 2008 food price riots in Burkina Faso © Brahima Ouedraogo / IRIN News |
In 2008 nature has been much kinder and the government itself reversed its policy of non-intervention in agriculture. Harvests yielded a substantial surplus over domestic needs. Rice production was three times that of the previous year. Prices in markets have fallen considerably but remain well above the levels prior to the 2008 crisis. It is too early to assess the impact on poverty but the government promises to continue its support for farmers in the shape of subsidised seed and fertilizer.
Climate Change in Burkina Faso
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| Cotton farmers in Burkina Faso © Brahima Ouedraogo / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network |
The NAPA suggests that the priorities for adaptation are improved prediction of extreme weather events and investment in irrigation. The government already sponsors mass tree planting schemes in an attempt to counter the desertification that results from extensive clearance of forested areas for household purposes.
The Economy in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is landlocked, chronically short of power, and over-dependent on cotton as the key source of foreign exchange. As many as 3 million livelihoods may be linked directly or indirectly to the crop whose fortunes are highly vulnerable to world commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. Cotton prices are volatile but have been broadly in decline since 2003 and in real terms are at their lowest level since the 1930s. This slump has acted as a brake on economic growth in Burkina Faso and hampered investment in the cotton industry.
The primary cause of global overproduction and weak cotton prices is the US government's persistence in paying subsidies to cotton farmers which at around $2 billion pa are of similar order to the entire public expenditure of the Burkina Faso government. Although the World Trade Organisation has upheld a protest from Brazil against unfair subsidies, the US has prevaricated over implementation of the ruling. Desperate for higher prices and yields, the Burkinabe farmers are experimenting both with organic cotton and with genetically modified seeds, the two strategies inevitably raising difficult conflicts of interest.
Burkina Faso has been a slave to the economic prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF and, by the benchmarks of these institutions, has a stable economy with satisfactory rates of growth and inflation. Debt is also under control thanks to the debt cancellation package announced at the July 2005 G8 summit. Nevertheless, Burkina Faso remains highly dependent on foreign aid which accounts for almost half of the government's budget.
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