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Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso: Food Security Crisis Emergency Plan of Action Final Report DREF operation n° MDRBF014

Attachments

A. SITUATION ANALYSIS

Description of the disaster

In the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, the nutritional status of children under the age of five was of particular concern in 2017, particularly in the Oudalan province, where prevalence exceeded WHO's critical thresholds. The rate of access to drinking water for households was quite low (65 percent), with a negative impact on food consumption and the nutritional status of households. No significant assistance was provided until the end of July 2017, when the situation of the vulnerable households was expected to deteriorate during the lean season from July to September 2017. Indeed, the year 2017 was expected to be critical with negative nutritional implications especially on pregnant and lactating women and on children. This emergency fund was therefore requested to respond to the identified emergency pockets and lay the groundwork to develop a four-year program through more in-depth assessments and sound planning.

On 19 August 2017, the DREF granted an allocation of CHF189,679 through a DREF operation intended to support the Burkina Faso Red Cross Society (BRCS) to respond urgently to the needs of 8,452 people living in a critical food security situation in the province of Oudalan, more precisely in the commune of Tin-Akoff. The food assistance targeted vulnerable pockets where populations were particularly affected. Later, in November 2017, a DREF Operation Update was approved, extending the operation timeframe for a further two months until 19 January 2018. Indeed, in the last week of September and first week of October, the security situation in Burkina Faso was of concern, with attacks perpetrated by armed groups, especially in the provinces of Soum and Oudalan. At field level, these attacks resulted in Burkina Faso Red Cross (BRCS) operational teams being delayed in the implementation of planned activities, as activities were slowed down and movements limited due to security risks. This timeframe extension also allowed for a lessons-learned workshop, scheduled for late November 2017 to postponed to early January.

The major donors and partners of this DREF include the Red Cross Societies and governments of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the USA, as well as DG ECHO, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), AECID, the Medtronic and Zurich Foundations and other corporate and private donors. On behalf of the Burkina Faso Red Cross (BRCS), the IFRC would like to extend its gratitude to all partners for their generous contributions.

Summary of response

Overview of Host National Society

The Burkina Faso Red Cross has extensive experience in managing food and nutrition crises. Since the 2005 food crisis related to locust attacks, the National Society has strengthened its operational capacity and gained experience in managing the response to the food crisis in 2012. Since then, it has diversified its emergency response tools and has started to use and promote cash transfer for emergency response and the implementation of some projects and programs. In addition to these operations, food security and nutrition programs have been developed with the support of Partner National Societies (Monaco Red Cross Society, Belgium Red Cross, Spanish Red Cross) and external partners. These programs have always had satisfactory results.
Regarding the response to this food crisis, the actions undertaken by the National Society were as follows:

• Participation in the analysis of the Burkina Faso Harmonized Country Framework.

• Participation in rapid and joint assessments in areas classified as hazardous.

• Participation in country coordination meetings.

• Participation in a joint assessment with ICRC.

• Setting up community management structures.

• Identification and selection of beneficiaries as per the selection criteria agreed upon with stakeholders.

• Conducting trainings for volunteers and staff in: hygiene promotion; middle upper arm circumference technique (MUAC); food security and nutrition; community-based surveillance (CBS); epidemic control for volunteers (ECV); cash transfer; monitoring; mobile data collection; ODK system; complaints management and security

• Food distribution to 7,987 people.

• Conducting in-depth assessment of the food and nutritional situation to inform longer-term programming.

It is worth adding that attacks perpetrated by armed groups, especially in the provinces of Soum and Oudalan caused delays in the implementation of planned activities. The operational timeframe was therefore extended by two months. .

Overview of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement in country

• IFRC: From 22 to 24 May 2017, the IFRC organized a workshop in Ouagadougou on how to work differently on food security and nutrition and the launching of a plan of action for a three-year program including emergency responses. During this period, discussions were held with several partners such as partner National Societies (PNSs) and ECHO, for the mobilization of resources and potential partners. Additionally, the IFRC mobilized a member of the Regional Disaster Response Team (RDRT) to provide technical support to the National Society for a period of three months.

• ICRC: The ICRC is well established in Burkina Faso and works especially in the Sahel part of the country, a conflict zone and an area that has hosted Malian refugees, to support the Burkina Faso Red Cross with livestock vaccination as well as water, sanitation and hygiene promotion. The ICRC conducted a joint assessment on the humanitarian situation specifically on the food security and livelihoods of the people of Soum and Oudalan provinces in the Sahel region.

Movement Coordination

Throughout the implementation of this DREF operation, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), through the Sahel Cluster in Dakar, coordinated the action and provided technical support for the development of strategies and monitoring of the country's action plan. At National Society level, coordination meetings were held, bringing together the partner National Societies, the ICRC and the RDRT deployed to support the implementation of the operation.

Overview of non-RCRC actors in country

In response to the food crisis, the government produced a Response and Support Plan for Food Insecure and Malnourished Populations (PRSPV). Resource mobilization was needed to support the Burkinabe Government’s Plan.
Thus, this DREF operation complemented the government’s response to the crisis, which conceived a response and Support Plan for Food Insecure and Malnourished Populations (PRSPV) to respond to this food crisis.