Palms for Life Fund - Priority Countries

Burkina Faso

Population: 12.8 million
Gross National Income per capita: US$360
Under 5 mortality rate (per thousand): 192
Infant mortality rate (per thousand): 97
Maternal mortality rate (per 100,000): 1,000 (5,400 mothers in 2004)
Adult literacy rate: 13
Male 19
Female 8
Net primary school enrollment/attendance rate: 32

Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is one of the least developed countries in the world and ranked only 175 out of 177 countries in the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP) 2005 Human Development Index with 45 percent of the population living below the poverty line. One major limitation is the weakness of its national capacities, in particular the human capital. About half of the population lives in poverty and the severity of poverty is higher for women than for men. Burkina Faso is poor in natural resources, has very limited rainfall, averaging about 350 mm in the north and 1000 mm in the southwest, and has no coastal access.

Burkina Faso is affected by the crisis in neighboring Côte d'Ivoire and the urbanization of the population as urban infrastructure is insufficient, in particular water.

Poverty, geographic dispersion of production and inadequate markets account for the overall food insecurity in the country; 80 percent of the household revenue is spent on food and 4.9 million people in rural areas do not have access to sufficient food. This affects mainly children under 5 of which 44.5 percent suffer from stunted growth. Chronic malnutrition affects children more in rural areas (41.6 percent) than in urban centers (20.2 percent) and more in the East (extremely poor) and the Sahel (extremely dry).

In 2003, only 38 percent of pregnant women benefited from prenatal consultations and 55 percent of pregnant women were anemic. Micronutrient deficiency, in particular iron, also affects 92 percent of children. Iodine deficiency is common as less than 50 percent of the population has access to iodized salt. Only 33 percent of children under 5 and only 16 percent of nursing mothers receive vitamin A supplements.

Those figures are considered “alarming” by the World Health Organization.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is the major health problem. The prevalence rate of 6.5 percent is among the highest in western Africa. There are over 250,000 people living with AIDS of which half are women.

Burkina Faso faces enormous limitations because of the overall low enrollment and attendance in school (one out of two children does not attend school), the wide gender gap and women’s low literacy rate, one of the lowest in the world, all of which contributes to the country’s extreme poverty.

Palms for Life Fund will focus its investment in health and education coverage and quality, in HIV/AIDS prevention measures in particular at the most remote villages, in adult literacy, in creating income-earning opportunities especially for women in rural areas and in strengthening rural women’s organizations (such as farmers’ associations).

Burkina Faso News Sources

Le Pays

Les Editions Sidwaya

Agence d'Information du Burkina

Zedcom

L'Independent

Sources:
Burkina Faso: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper by the Ministry of Economy and Development, July 2004
World Bank - Poverty Reduction Report 2000 and Country Brief
The State of the World’s Children 2006, UNICEF
World Food Programme - Country Program 2006-2010

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