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Millennium Development Goals in Burkina Faso

Out-of-school children in Burkina Faso © UNESCO - Communication, Information and Informatics Sector

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world. The 2007 UN Human Development Report places it 176th out of the 177 countries listed, with over 70% of the population living on less than $2 a day. Many key development indicators are very low, even in relation to the average for Africa, and progress is hampered by high population growth of 3% pa. In 2005 literacy rates were reported as the lowest in the world. High maternal and infant mortality rates reflect the lack of basic health care combined with inadequate sanitation coverage which barely exceeds 10%. Difficulty in collecting reliable data is creating concern that extreme poverty and child malnutrition may be getting worse rather than better, especially away from the main urban areas.

These concerns focus on the predominant livelihood of subsistence agriculture which is inefficient and highly vulnerable. For example, although the harvest for 2007 has exceeded basic food needs, poor distribution and poverty ensure that child malnutrition remains over 30%. All regions are known to have poor coping capacity for drought, flooding, and locusts, each of which is a regular hazard in Burkina Faso. The prospect of climate change aggravating these sensitivities undermines the already formidable challenge of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Cotton farmers in Burkina Faso © Brahima Ouedraogo / United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

With or without the impact of global warming, it is accepted that the MDGs in Burkina Faso cannot be achieved without very considerable commitment to poverty reduction strategies. A “needs assessment” conducted in 2007 suggested that an investment of $200 per capita of population is required every year until 2015. For the water and sanitation target alone, the Asian Development Bank has quoted a cost of $116 million pa to 2015, more than six times the current allocation. Within its capacity limitations, the government is actively engaged with the MDGs, having integrated the targets into the country’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) which gains the support of global donor agencies.

For example, in a bid to reduce the large regional as well as urban-rural disparities, the government provides free education in 45 priority provinces, an initiative which may be extended to all regions by 2011. It should also improve primary enrolment rates for girls which remain below 50%.

Health and HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso

The target to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS is the MDG for which Burkina Faso has demonstrated the most success. Prevalence has halved from 4.2% in 2003 to 2.0% in 2005 in response to strategies to fight the disease. These 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.

Burkina Faso: vaccinations for meningitis ©MSF

Progress in general health care has been far less impressive. Infant mortality rates have dropped from 219 per 1000 in 1998 only to 188 in 2006. Only 56% of mothers had qualified assistance in giving birth in 2007. The main cause of child mortality remains malnutrition and the chances of a child dying between the ages of one and five have remained unchanged.
The Economy in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is landlocked, chronically short of power, and over-endowed with bureaucracy for business investors. The economy is largely dependent on the agricultural sector which employs about 90 per cent of the population. Cotton is the key product and source of foreign exchange with as many as 3 million livelihoods linked directly or indirectly to the crop. This dependence leaves the country highly vulnerable to world commodity prices and foreign exchange rates. Cotton prices have fallen every year since 2003 and in real terms are at their lowest since the 1930s. This slump has acted as a brake on economic growth and hampered investment in the cotton industry.

Cotton-pickers in Burkina Faso

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.
Politics in Burkina Faso

Under its previous name of Upper Volta, the country gained independence from France in 1960. The name Burkina Faso translates as ‘land of honest men’ and was bestowed by Thomas Sankara, the country’s charismatic leader who took power in 1983 in one of a succession of post-independence coups. Sankara pursued a radical socialist government and adopted a policy of non-alignment. He was overthrown and killed during the coup which ushered in the current president, Blaise Campaoré, in 1987.

President Blaise Campaoré of Burkina Faso © United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network

For many years the Campaoré government permitted little more than token gestures to democracy and Burkina Faso was regarded internationally as a refuge for West African perpetrators of crime and violence. Political opposition to Campaoré stiffened considerably following the murder in 1998 of Norbert Zongo, a prominent journalist and government critic. A number of democratic reforms were brought in to appease public anger - these included the use of a simple ballot form to benefit opposition parties. In the 2002 elections for the National Assembly (the legislative body), there was a sharp swing against the ruling party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP).

Campaoré responded by polishing up his international image through acceptance of economic discipline and participation in regional conflict resolution. He enjoyed a landslide victory in the presidential election in

Burkinabes hook up to the net © Radio Netherlands Wereldomroep

November 2005 despite protests that he was standing yet again. The courts had ruled that a 2000 constitutional amendment limiting the head of state to two terms should not be applied retrospectively. Mr Campaoré duly won with 80.3 per cent of the vote. With a large number of candidates unable to present a united opposition, the runner-up, Benewende Stanislas Sankara, obtained less than 5 per cent of the vote.

The constitution provides for the participation of civil society in Burkina Faso by guaranteeing the freedom to form associations. The strength of an active civil society was evidenced by the protests following the death of Zongo; representatives sit on the Independent National Electoral Commission and were involved in preparation of the PRSP.
Human Rights in Burkina Faso

Despite the establishment of democracy in Burkina Faso, politically motivated murders have continued to take place. Of particular concern to monitors of human rights is the failure of the government to take appropriate steps to bring perpetrators to justice. For example, an independent commission of inquiry into the 1998 murder of Norbert Zongo named six suspects. Subsequent investigations have been marred by gross irregularities and no prosecutions have been completed. Attempts during 2007 by local media to disclose the possible implication of the president’s brother resulted in charges of libel against the editors concerned.

Burkina Faso is credited as one of the first countries in Africa to take decisive steps through tough legislation to end the practice of female circumcision. However, despite extensive campaigning led by the wife of the president, the culture is deeply entrenched and possibly about 50% of women continue to suffer this cruelty.
Conflict in Burkina Faso

Tensions with neighbouring Ivory Coast date back to the 2002 outbreak of internal violence there between rebels in the north and the government. A long-established and substantial Burkinabe migrant population found itself targeted by both sides and half a million people fled back to Burkina Faso whose government was accused by Ivory Coast of supporting the rebels. In the event it was Campaoré who mediated an agreement in 2007 between the Ivorian factions, creating an uneasy but enduring end to violence.



The OneWorld Burkina Faso Guide was first published in September 2005 with a text written by Volunteer Editor Kpakpo Brown

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