As millions face hunger crisis, ChildFund Alliance member,  Christian Children’s Fund of Canada, is responding to the emergency in Burkina Faso in the Sahel region of West Africa.

Low levels of rain, combined with high food prices and widespread poverty, has meant that West African countries will face tough times ahead without help from the international community. More than 10 million people in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger are at risk of hunger when their supplies run out due to a poor harvesting season.

Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC) has been working in Burkina Faso for 25 years.

“Fourteen of our program communities are trying to cope with food shortages due to this drought,” says Philip Maher, Communications Director at CCFC who is currently in Burkina Faso assessing needs in the country. “We need to act now to preserve the life and dignity of those who live in these communities.”

Last year, Burkina Faso’s inadequate rainfall during the regular season – from June to October – has resulted in poor crops, dried waterways and water ponds.

“What I have harvested is far from even half of what I usually get,” says Tilado Gilbert Kaboré, a local farmer and father of six. “My granary (silo) has been empty for a long time.”

Farmers like Tilado, their communities, and livestock will have to endure without access to water and food until rains st again this June.

Through partner organizations, CCFC plans to distribute food rations to malnourished children, breast-feeding mothers, and pregnant women in the Eastern and Central regions of the country. CCFC will supply emergency food aid for three months and has long-term plans to help families recover their livelihood by providing them with livestock and seeds.

Melissa Wallace
Communications Officer
Christian Children’s Fund of Canada
Office: 905-754-1010 Ext. 220
E-mail: mwallace@ccfcanada.ca