Country profile: Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso is a landlocked, sub-Saharan country covering 274,200 sq km with limited natural resources and rainfall. The country is at the heart of the meningitis belt and routinely reports severe meningitis epidemics. These epidemics typically strike during the dry season (from December to June) and tend to peak around April, the hottest month of the year.

Economy

Burkina Faso is among the world's poorest countries. The economy is strongly dependent on agriculture and cotton, in particular. Nearly 90 percent of the population relies on subsistence farming, which can be severely affected by poor rains. A slight but steady economic improvement was recorded up to 2007 with the real gross domestic product (GDP) increasing by about 5 percent per year. Since then the economy has stagnated due to adverse weather conditions for the country's most important export crop, cotton, as well as falling cotton prices. Burkina Faso's projected growth rate for 2009 was 3.4 percent. The people of Burkina Faso, or Burkinabe, are lobbying for improved access to Western markets.

Economic reforms have helped the country qualify for debt relief. In 2006 it qualified for the multilateral debt reduction initiative that resulted in the cancellation of outstanding debts to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the African Development Bank.

Demography

Burkina Faso's estimated 2009 population was 14.8 million inhabitants with an annual population growth rate of 2.9 percent. Women have, on average, 6.3 children. In 2006 the life expectancy at birth was estimated at 51 years for men and 54 years for women (average 52).

The population is still overwhelmingly rural. The average population density is 37 p/km2, but the population is very unevenly distributed. Most Burkinabe live in the southern part of the country where, in localized areas, the population density can be as high as 48 p/km2.

Burkina Faso is a young country. The median population age is 17. It is estimated that about 70 percent of the population is between 1 and 29 years of age—the target population for the meningococcal A vaccination campaign.

Over 90 percent of the people speak native African languages belonging to the Sudanic family. French is the official language of government. Half of the population is Muslim, 35 percent hold indigenous beliefs, and 15 percent are Christian.

Development

Burkina Faso is near the bottom of the development index compiled by the United Nations Development Program (176 out of 177 countries). Literacy rates are low at 26 percent (29.4 percent for men, 15.2 percent for women). A concerted effort has been made to increase literacy rates by improving access to primary education. By law, education is meant to be free and compulsory until the age of 16. However, endemic poverty prevents many children from attending school. They are kept to work in the fields or are sent out to other jobs. Parents also cannot afford the cost of supplies. In 2006 net enrollment ratios in primary education were 52 percent for boys and 42 percent for girls.

In cities access to clean water is good (82 percent), but in rural areas less than half (44 percent) the population has access to clean water. About one third of Burkinabe children are underweight.

The government of Burkina Faso is committed to improving health in the country. In cooperation with donors, it is trying to improve primary health care by providing support for nursing mothers and infants, vaccination campaigns, and health education. Burkina Faso has a successful vaccination program, with campaigns typically covering between 95 to 99 percent of target children according to the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI).

Sustained efforts and investments have been made by Burkina Faso resulting in some positive trends in social welfare. The infant mortality rate has dropped from 100 per 1,000 in 1998 to 81 per 1,000 in 2003. Under-5 mortality has fallen from 219 per 1,000 in 1998 to 184 per 1,000 in 2003.

Photo: Monique Berlier.