CRS Work in Burkina Faso

Partnership development, community participation and community ownership drive Catholic Relief Services' work in Burkina Faso. Using an integrated approach, CRS strives to help vulnerable communities improve their food supply and sustain their development through activities in six key areas.

Education

Since 1962, CRS and our partners have worked to promote basic education for children in rural Burkina Faso. However, many children are chronically underfed, making learning nearly impossible. CRS has worked with the government, our partners and the communities to establish a school feeding program throughout the country. This program has benefited hundreds of thousands of children, some of whom have become sports stars, leaders of nongovernmental organizations or even CRS employees. Many top government ministers and officials grew up on the CRS school feeding program.

Because families often hesitate to send their children, especially girls, to school, CRS has developed a take-home ration program to encourage girls' education. A health component supplements the ongoing girls' education activities at school. In addition, CRS recently completed the first phase of construction of school complexes.

Microfinance

In Burkina Faso, only 30 percent of the adult population has access to credit, with women more underserved than men. Only a few large microfinance institutions exist to meet the needs of rural populations. In order to attend to these communities, CRS created a microfinance institution that serves nearly 30,000 clients in nine provinces. CRS focuses on investing in the business skills of female entrepreneurs. These women are then able to use their profits to meet household needs such as nutritious food, health care and schooling for children.

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Agriculture

Founded in 1985, the CRS Burkina Faso Agriculture Department works to ensure adequate access to food. The department educates farmers on soil and water conservation to increase yields, teaches market gardening so Burkinabé can diversify their crops and increase income, and trains teachers to incorporate gardening into the school curriculum. As an added bonus, the school gardening supports the school feeding program and improves students' health. The CRS agriculture team also shows farmers how to sell unused crops, especially sesame and a kind of millet called fonio. These programs currently reach more than 13,000 people.

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HIV and AIDS

The HIV program in Burkina Faso focuses on educating Burkinabé about the virus and preventing its spread in country. Schoolchildren are a primary target of the education campaign. They are given information about how the disease is contracted. Another program focuses on prevention by providing counseling to couples on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Some couples serve as volunteer counselors, providing the same prevention information to other couples. In a country where the stigma of HIV is strong, this kind of personal, one-on-one counseling by local Burkinabé has been very effective. CRS works with people living with HIV, providing food rations, counseling and advice on locally available nutritious foods.

Humanitarian Aid and Emergency Response

Through our general relief program, CRS distributes food rations to more than 13,000 people every year, concentrating on the most vulnerable members of the population. HIV and AIDS patients, orphans, widows, young girls who have fled forced marriages, and the physically disabled benefit directly from this assistance.

CRS' emergency response unit responds to natural or man-made disasters. When a food crisis hit Burkina Faso in 2005, the unit distributed food to almost 100,000 people. The unit also provides training to local partners in emergency response and preparedness.

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Peace and Justice

CRS has trained paralegals in three provinces to educate people about their rights and responsibilities, especially regarding disputes or disagreements. The goal of the program is to provide communities with the means to peaceful conflict resolution. CRS partners with the Peace and Justice Commission, an institution created in 2004 by the Burkina/Niger Conference of Bishops. This commission is vital in Burkina Faso, where poverty often prohibits people from accessing the legal system.