Where We Work | Africa | Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
While Burkina Faso has been recognized for its economic growth, it remains, along with its West African neighbors, among the most impoverished countries in the world. Subsistence farmers, who make up a vast majority of the population, face a harsh and arid climate with seasonal and highly variable precipitation. Desertification and resulting loss of soil fertility make farming in Burkina Faso a little bit harder every year.
Limited access to healthcare and educational resources are major obstacles to long-term poverty reduction. Literacy rates for women are below 10 percent. Most women split their time between domestic and agricultural tasks—caring for children, working in the fields, and preparing meals. Scarcity of water and fuel adds to women’s workload; time spent hauling water or gathering firewood might total several hours a day.
Unable to fully rely on earning a sufficient income through agriculture, increasing numbers of rural men migrate to urban areas and across borders looking for work. This economic migration has led to increased incidence of HIV/AIDS in Burkina Faso’s villages. Recent civil unrest in Ivory Coast, however, has hindered the ability of many farm workers to migrate south to find seasonal employment and has also disrupted landlocked Burkina’s international trade and nascent industrial development.
OUR HISTORY IN Burkina Faso
Lutheran World Relief (LWR) began work in Burkina Faso in 1986, expanding our work in West Africa from response to the food crisis in Niger. By 1990, LWR had established multiple local partnerships, and in 2003 we determined our Priority Action Zones in order to increase the depth and effectiveness of our work.
LWR WORKS WITH LOCAL PARTNERS
To create sustainable rural livelihoods by:
- Providing community education about HIV/AIDS, including information on the disease and high-risk behaviors, knowledge and skills to provide care, support and advocacy for the infected and affected;
- Improving health by creating new wells with safe drinking water and by promoting better nutrition;
- Introducing sustainable agricultural practices that increase availability of and access to food, thereby increasing nutrition and health;
- Providing skills training for micro-enterprise endeavors in poultry farming, water management and shea butter processing, and making micro-credit funds available, in particular, to people living with HIV/AIDS.
ACCOMPANIMENT: HOW WE WORK
Lutheran World Relief believes working with local partners is the key to lasting changes that end poverty and bring justice. We work together with trust, respect and accountability in order to most effectively serve those for whom we work.
Lutheran World Relief is a ministry of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS), individuals and parish groups in international relief, development, advocacy and social responsibility.
