Period covered by this Ops Update:
This Operation Update covers the period from December 2012 to February 2013 and announces a timeframe extension of four months to July in order to finalize activities that have been delayed. The final report will be made available by the end of October 2013.
Appeal target: CHF 2,093,612
Appeal coverage: 90% 82% as of 1/2013
Appeal history:
Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF) of CHF 113,532 allocated on 16 December 2011 to address food insecurity to support Burkinabe Red Cross Society (BRCS) in delivering immediate assistance to 5,500 beneficiaries (1,100 families) with food vouchers for two months in Tin Akoff, in the province Oudalan, in the Sahel region.
The Emergency Appeal launched on the 16 April 2012 sought CHF 3,952,739 for 12 months to assist 20,000 agro-pastoral households (120,000 beneficiaries) in six out of the ten of the affected regions of Burkina Faso. The operation was to close at the end of April 2013 and a final report available by the end of July 2013.
The Emergency Appeal revision issued on 5 December 2012 reduced the budget from CHF 3,952,739 to CHF 2,093,612 and decreased the beneficiaries from 120,000 to 105,000 to include 2,500 families (a total 17,500 families) affected food insecurity; by flood; threatened by epidemic outbreaks and communities hosting refugees from Mali. The revision also reported back on progress during the period This Operation Update announces a timeframe extension of four months to focus on more food voucher distribution starting at the forthcoming lean period. The operation will also focus on meeting the main planting season with the distribution of seeds, tools and fertilizer on time for planting in June Summary: Like most other countries of the Sahel region, Burkina Faso experienced a food crisis in 2012.
Due to a late start of activities, the Emergency Appeal began in August 2012 responding to the immediate food needs. The activities utilised the twin-track approach of providing emergency assistance whilst building community resilience with the distribution of seeds, tools and fertilizer ahead of the planting season.
With delays in funding and cash availability, the purchase of seeds and fertilizer could not take place on time for the planting season. The operation therefore initially focused on meeting the immediate food needs of the affected population, involving two distributions of food vouchers; the first took place in September 2012 reaching 11,522 families and the second distribution took place in early February 2012 reaching 10,449 families. At the same time, BRCS is implementing a school based nutritional education campaign.
The situation in Burkina Faso became complex with the arrival, in early 2012, of Malian refugees, outbreaks of cholera and heavy rains which created flooding in several regions. These new emergencies required BRCS to undertake several assessment missions, causing more delays in implementing the food insecurity activities.
Despite the mobilisation of assistance to the population that has proved to be timely, well coordinated with other humanitarian actors and the authorities, and a good harvest in 2012; many vulnerable households have not recovered and will remain food insecure.
The operation intends to focus on more food vouchers to be distributed at the start of the forthcoming lean period, to cover food needs for another three to four months. The exact needs are being identified in a food security assessment which started on 8 March and that monitors the beneficiaries that will still need food assistance. The 2013 planting season has begun with the preparation of land during March to June, with sowing being done when the rains will begin. The operation will now focus on meeting the main planting season with the distribution of seeds, tools and fertilizer on time for planting starting in June (see seasonal calendar below).
Unfortunately, the support to community vegetable gardens will not take place. The main operational delays have been because of the difficulties in financial reporting faced by BRCS to meet the commitments of the signed memorandum of understanding it has engaged in with IFRC. These delays have affected the implementation of nearly all the planned activities.
Funding towards this appeal has so far been received from British Red Cross, Finnish Red Cross (from Finnish Government), Japanese Red Cross Society, Red Cross of Monaco, Canadian Red Cross Society, Canadian Government, Netherlands Red Cross (from Netherlands Red Cross Silent Emergency Fund) and from Netherlands Government. The IFRC would like to thank these donors for their contributions on behalf of BRCS.