World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Across the Sahel region,18 million people are going hungry due to climate changes and recurrent droughts. In Burkina Faso alone, almost 3 million people are affected by the food crisis, according to the national government. WFP Food for Work projects are helping affected communities building a hunger-free future.

The first priority for communities hit by drought or other natural disasters is to stay fed. Food-for-work projects provide them with food, so that they'll have time and energy to spend on projects that will help them in the long-term.

In Burkina Faso, WFP’s Food for Work programme provides food to participants in community-based activities in order to build resilience against future droughts within the affected communities.

In Bani in northern Burkina Faso, a WFP Food for Work project helps prevent soil degradation and retain water. This means improving future food security for the local community.

Food for work programmes provide families hit by drought with food to eat now, while they work on becoming more resilient to droughts in the future.

Agriculture remains the main employment sector and income source throughout rural Burkina Faso, where 80 percent of the population resides.

Small-scale, subsistence-oriented family farming dominates and accounts for 70 percent of the country’s total agricultural production.

Food for Work projects are generally being implemented between December and April, in-between of agricultural seasons. In Bani, gardeners groups are growing cabbage, onions, tomatoes and salad.
 

Irrigation, terracing, soil and water conservation. In countries where drought regularly causes food shortages, irrigation can boost crop yields by 100-400%.

No one organization can solve the immense challenges in the Sahel region alone. WFP works in close partnership with the national and donor governments as well as with national and international organizations to help the affected populations build resilience.