Self-reported impact of the threat of terrorism and of Covid-19 on household food insecurity in Burkina Faso

Abstract

Burkina Faso faces recurrent food insecurity, exacerbated during lean seasons, particularly in rural areas. Like many other countries, it has also been affected directly and indirectly by the Covid-19 pandemic. It also continues to suffer from terrorism and its inherent consequences. This study aimed to examine the factors contributing to food insecurity in the country, including the potential effects of these two shocks. The dataset of the fifth Demographic and Health Survey, conducted in 2021 on a representative sample of 13,251 households was utilized. Binary and multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess the self-reported impact of these two shocks on household food insecurity in Burkina Faso. It was found that food insecurity was affecting almost one in five households in Burkina Faso (19%), Some households reported that their food insecurity was caused by Covid-19 alone, terrorism alone or both (respectively 6.3%, 10.8 and 15.5%). However, more than two-thirds (67.4%) of those suffering from food insecurity said that neither terrorism nor Covid-19 was the cause of their food insecurity. These findings highlight the significant challenge of achieving food security in Burkina Faso by the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals deadline. In addition, considerable efforts are still required by all stakeholders to integrate cyclical or spontaneous shocks into the monitoring and mitigation mechanisms in place at the national and sub-region levels.