Three agencies of the United Nations have disclosed that $608 million is needed to support 2.9 million people facing acute food insecurity in Burkina Faso.
The three UN agencies – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) – say funding of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for the country remains low, with just 24 percent achieved.
So far, about 3.5 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Centre-Nord, Sahel, East and Nord regions of Burkina Faso.
To prevent further deterioration in food and nutritional security, about $187 million is also urgently needed, according to the aid agencies.
They said in a statement that some 308,000 children are suffering from acute malnutrition, including 94,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
According to WFP, 3.3 million people are estimated to be facing acute food insecurity, 25 percent of children under five suffer from stunting and 40.1 percent of the country’s population live on less than U.S.$1.90 per day.
‘To sustain regular food assistance distributions to a larger number of people in need, WFP, in coordination with the food security cluster, was forced to reduce rations’, the statement read.
‘Most beneficiaries are receiving half the normal food rations. Beneficiaries in hard-to-reach areas receive 75 percent of the rations to provide a buffer if distributions are disrupted.
‘With the current level of funding, the food assistance pipeline will come to a halt in October, and there is a risk for a reduction of agricultural activities and assets of households most exposed to seasonal shocks, in turn, affecting their nutritional status.
‘Overall, the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is seeking $608 million to support 2.9 million people in need. Some $187 million is urgently needed now to prevent further deterioration in food and nutritional security, targeting some 1.7 million with emergency food assistance’.
The UN agencies called on countries to provide new funding to allow humanitarians reach civilians in urgent need.
Source: OCHA
Photo source: WFP
