CHURCH WORLD SERVICE: EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROGRAM
BURKINA FASO DROUGHT ASSISTANCE
9 September 2005


SITUATION: The northern provinces of Passore and Oubritenga in the west
African nation of Burkina Faso have been seriously affected by drought -
caused by a shortening of the rainy season -- and devastation brought by
a plague of migratory locusts.

"The year 2004 draws to a close with a bitter note hanging over the head
of hard-working rural populations because they see their efforts being
reduced to nothing because of the shortage of rain," the Association for
Peace and Solidarity, a Burkina Faso-based non-governmental organization
and Church World Service partner, said in a statement.

The lack of rain and resulting drought has resulted in serious food
shortages for the some 100,000 who live in communities in the affected
areas, and is being called an agricultural disaster by humanitarian
groups working in the region, with mounting fears of an escalating food
crisis that might lead to famine. Nearly all in the affected areas are
subsistence farmers.

Exacerbating the problem is the locust plague of late 2004, which wiped
out crops about to be harvested and further imperiled food security.

The drought is having dire social consequences for the region, with
young men leaving the area for work in urban areas, leaving a vulnerable
population of elderly, women and children.

The problems in Burkina Faso, which has a population of 14 million, are
part of a larger regional food shortage crisis in the so-called northern
Sahel region, which includes neighboring Niger.


RESPONSE:  Church World Service is responding to this emergency by
supporting the short-term, immediate efforts of the Association for
Peace and Solidarity, which has been conducting an assessment of food
security in the affected regions and has previously responded to other
food shortage emergencies.

The group is responding with assistance to 3,000 households, each with
extended families of about 21 persons, for a total of some 63,000
assisted.

This includes the distribution of 1,500 sacks of millet; 500 units of
children's feeding formula; and medicines such as oral re-hydration
tablets.

The total budget for this material is $90,050 - which includes the cost
of supplies, labor and transportation -- and the Association for Peace
and Solidarity is seeking support for $85,650.

Contributions to support this emergency appeal may be sent to your
denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN,
46515. Please designate: Burkina Faso Drought Assistance, Appeal # 641-C

For further information about disasters to which Church World Service is
responding -- or to make a credit card contribution -- please visit the
Church World Service Website at www.churchworldservice.org or phone
(800) 297-1516.

CWS Emergency Response Program special contacts: (212) 870-3151;
International: dderr@churchworldservice.org
Domestic: lreedbrown@churchworldservice.org

CWS / ERP web site: www.cwserp.org

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