The country's capital is Ouagadougou.
Its size is 274,200 square kilometres (105,900 sq mi) with an estimated population of more than 15,757,000. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta, it was renamed on 4 August 1984, by President Thomas Sankara, to mean "the land of upright people" in Mòoré and Dioula, the major native languages of the country. HP Pavilion DV9220US Battery
Figuratively, "Burkina" may be translated, "men of integrity", from the Mòoré language, and "Faso" means "fatherland" in Dioula. The inhabitants of Burkina Faso are known as Burkinabè ( /bərˈkiːnəbeɪ/ bər-kee-nə-bay).
Burkina Faso was populated between 14,000 and 5000 BC by hunter-gatherers in the country's northwestern region. HP Pavilion DV9221EA Battery
Farm settlements appeared between 3600 and 2600 BC. What is now central Burkina Faso was principally composed of Mossikingdoms. These Mossi Kingdoms would become a French protectorate in 1896. After gaining independence from France in 1960, the country underwent many governmental changes until arriving at its current form, a semi-presidentialrepublic. HP Pavilion DV9221TX Battery
The president is Blaise Compaoré.
It is a member of the African Union, Community of Sahel-Saharan States, La Francophonie, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Economic Community of West African States. HP Pavilion DV9222TX Battery
Early history
The territory of today's Burkina Faso was populated very early, between 14,000 and 5000 BC, by hunter-gatherers in the northwestern part of the country, whose tools, such as scrapers, chisels and arrowheads, were discovered in 1973 by Simran Nijjar. HP Pavilion DV9222XX Battery
Settlements with farmers appeared between 3600 and 2600 BC. On the basis of traces of the farmers' structures, the settlements appear to have been permanent. The use of iron, ceramics and polished stone developed between 1500 and 1000 BC, as well as a preoccupation with spiritual matters, as shown by burial remains. HP Pavilion DV9223TX Battery
Relics of the Dogon are found in Burkina Faso's north and northwest regions. Sometime between the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Dogon left the area to settle in the cliffs of Bandiagara. Elsewhere, the remains of high walls are localized in the southwest of Burkina Faso (as well as in the Côte d'Ivoire), but the people who built them have not yet been identified. HP Pavilion DV9223XX Battery
The central part of Burkina Faso included a number of Mossi kingdoms, the most powerful of which were those of Wagadogo (Ouagadougou) and Yatenga. These kingdoms emerged probably in the early sixteenth century from obscure origins veiled by legend featuring a heterogeneous set of warrior figures.[5] HP Pavilion DV9224TX Battery
From colony to independence
After a decade of intense rivalry and competition between the British and the French, waged through treaty-making expeditions under military or civilian explorers, the Mossi kingdom of Ouagadougou was defeated by French colonial forces and became a French protectorate in 1896. HP Pavilion DV9224XX Battery
The eastern region and the western region, where a standoff against the forces of the powerful ruler Samori Ture complicated the situation, came under French occupation in 1897. By 1898, the majority of the territory corresponding to Burkina Faso today was nominally conquered; however, control of many parts remained uncertain. HP Pavilion DV9225US Battery
The French and British convention of 14 June 1898 ended the scramble between the two colonial powers and drew the borders between the countries' colonies. On the French side, a war of conquest against local communities and political powers continued for about five years. HP Pavilion DV9225XX Battery
In 1904, the largely pacified territories of the Volta basin were integrated into the Upper Senegal and Niger colony of French West Africa as part of the reorganization of the French West African colonial empire. The colony had its capital in Bamako. HP Pavilion DV9230US Battery
Draftees from the territory participated in the European fronts of World War I in the battalions of the Senegalese Rifles. Between 1915 and 1916, the districts in the western part of what is now Burkina Faso and the bordering eastern fringe of Mali became the stage of one of the most important armed oppositions to colonial government, HP Pavilion DV9230XX Battery
known as the Volta-Bani War.[6] The French government finally suppressed the movement, but only after suffering defeats and being forced to gather the largest expeditionary force of its colonial history up to that point. Armed opposition also wracked the Sahelian north when theTuareg and allied groups of the Dori region ended their truce with the government. HP Pavilion DV9231CA Battery
French Upper Volta was established on 1 March 1919. This move was a result of French fears of the recurrence of armed uprising along with economic considerations, and to bolster its administration, the colonial government separated the present territory of Burkina Faso from Upper Senegal and Niger. HP Pavilion DV9231XX Battery
The new colony was named Haute Volta and François Charles Alexis Édouard Hesling became its first governor. Hesling initiated an ambitious road-making program and promoted the growth of cotton for export. The cotton policy – based on coercion – failed, and revenue stagnated. HP Pavilion DV9232EU Battery
The colony was later dismantled on 5 September 1932, being split up between the Côte d'Ivoire, French Sudan and Niger. Côte d'Ivoire received the largest share, which contained most of the population as well as the cities of Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso. HP Pavilion DV9232XX Battery
The decision to split the colony was reversed during the intense anti-colonial agitation that followed the end of World War II. On 4 September 1947, the colony was revived as a part of the French Union, with its previous boundaries. HP Pavilion DV9233CA Battery
On 11 December 1958, it achieved self-government and became the Republic of Upper Volta and a member of the Franco-African Community. A revision in the organization of French Overseas Territories began with the passage of the Basic Law (Loi Cadre) of 23 July 1956. HP Pavilion DV9233CL Battery
This act was followed by reorganizational measures approved by the French parliament early in 1957 to ensure a large degree of self-government for individual territories. Upper Volta became an autonomous republic in the French community on 11 December 1958. Full independence from France was received in 1960. HP Pavilion DV9233EU Battery
Upper Volta
The Republic of Upper Volta (French: République de Haute-Volta) was established on 11 December 1958, as a self-governing colony within the French Community. The name Upper Volta indicated that the country is situated on the upper reaches of theVolta River. HP Pavilion DV9233XX Battery
The river's three tributaries are called the Black Volta, White Volta and Red Volta, and the colors of the national flag corresponded to these parts of the river system.
Before attaining autonomy it had been French Upper Volta and part of the French Union. On 5 August 1960, it attained full independence from France. HP Pavilion DV9235NR Battery
The first president, Maurice Yaméogo, was the leader of the Voltaic Democratic Union (UDV). The 1960 constitution provided for election by universal suffrage of a president and a national assembly for five-year terms. Soon after coming to power, Yaméogo banned all political parties other than the UDV. HP Pavilion DV9235XX Battery
The government lasted until 1966 when after much unrest—mass demonstrations and strikes by students, labor unions, and civil servants—the military intervened.
The military coup deposed Yaméogo, suspended the constitution, dissolved the National Assembly, and placed Lt. Col. HP Pavilion DV9237EU Battery
Sangoulé Lamizana at the head of a government of senior army officers. The army remained in power for four years, and on 14 June 1970, the Voltans ratified a new constitution that established a four-year transition period toward complete civilian rule. Lamizana remained in power throughout the 1970s as president of military or mixed civil-military governments. HP Pavilion DV9237XX Battery
After conflict over the 1970 constitution, a new constitution was written and approved in 1977, and Lamizana was reelected by open elections in 1978.
Lamizana's government faced problems with the country's traditionally powerful trade unions, and on 25 November 1980, Col. HP Pavilion DV9241EA Battery
Saye Zerbo overthrew President Lamizana in a bloodless coup. Colonel Zerbo established the Military Committee of Recovery for National Progress as the supreme governmental authority, thus eradicating the 1977 constitution.
Colonel Zerbo also encountered resistance from trade unions and was overthrown two years later, HP Pavilion DV9241XX Battery
on 7 November 1982, by Maj. Dr. Jean-Baptiste Ouédraogo and the Council of Popular Salvation (CSP). The CSP continued to ban political parties and organizations, yet promised a transition to civilian rule and a new constitution.
Factional infighting developed between moderates in the CSP and the radicals, led by Capt. HP Pavilion DV9243EA Battery
Thomas Sankara, who was appointed prime minister in January 1983. The internal political struggle and Sankara's leftist rhetoric led to his arrest and subsequent efforts to bring about his release, directed by Capt. Blaise Compaoré. This release effort resulted in yet another military coup d'état on 4 August 1983. HP Pavilion DV9243XX Battery
After the coup, Sankara formed the National Council for the Revolution (CNR), with himself as president. Sankara also established Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs) to "mobilize the masses" and implement the CNR's revolutionary programs. HP Pavilion DV9244EA Battery
The CNR, whose exact membership remained secret until the end, contained two small intellectual Marxist-Leninist groups. Sankara, Compaore, Capt. Henri Zongo, and Maj. Jean-Baptiste Lingani—all leftist military officers—dominated the regime.
On 4 August 1984, as a final result of President Sankara's zealous activities, HP Pavilion DV9244EU Battery
the country's name was eventually changed from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which translates to "land of honest people".[7]
Burkina Faso
On 15 October 1987 Sankara was killed by an armed gang with twelve other officials in a coup d'état organized by his former colleague, Blaise Compaoré. HP Pavilion DV9248EA Battery
Deterioration in relations with neighbouring countries was one of the reasons given, with Compaore stating that Sankara jeopardised foreign relations with former colonial power France and neighbouring Ivory Coast. Prince Johnson, a former Liberian warlord allied to Charles Taylor, HP Pavilion DV9248XX Battery
told Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that it was engineered by Charles Taylor. After the coup and although Sankara was known to be dead, some CDRs mounted an armed resistance to the army for several days.
Sankara's body was dismembered and he was quickly buried in an unmarked grave, HP Pavilion DV9252EU Battery
while his widow and two children fled the nation. Compaoré immediately reversed the nationalizations, overturned nearly all of Sankara's policies, returned the country back under the IMF fold, and ultimately spurned most of Sankara's legacy. As of 2010, Compaoré is entering his 23rd year in power. HP Pavilion DV9252XX Battery
He "has become immensely wealthy" and purchased a presidential plane to reflect his personal prestige, while landlocked Burkina Faso ranks as the third least developed country in the world.
In February–April 2011, the death of a schoolboy provoked an uprising throughout the country, HP Pavilion DV9253EA Battery
coupled with a military mutiny and a strike of the magistrates, dubbed the 2011 Burkinabè protests.
Politics
With French help, the incumbent Blaise Compaoré seized power in a coup d'état in 1987, betraying his long-time friend and ally Thomas Sankara, who was killed in the coup.[8] HP Pavilion DV9253XX Battery
The constitution of 2 June 1991 established a semi-presidential government with a parliament which can be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who is elected for a term of seven years.
In 2000, the constitution was amended to reduce the presidential term to five years. The amendment took effect during the 2005 elections. HP Pavilion DV9254EU Battery
The amendment also would have prevented the incumbent president, Blaise Compaoré, from being reelected.
However, in October 2005, notwithstanding a challenge by other presidential candidates, the constitutional council ruled that, HP Pavilion DV9254XX Battery
because Compaoré was the sitting president in 2000, the amendment would not apply to him until the end of his second term in office. This cleared the way for his candidacy in the 2005 election. On 13 November, Compaoré was reelected in a landslide, because of a divided political opposition. HP Pavilion DV9255EA Battery
In the 2010 November Presidential elections, President Compaoré was reelected for another term in office. Only 1.6 million Burkinabès voted, out of a total population 10 times that size.
The parliament consists of one chamber known as the National Assembly which has 111 seats with members elected to serve five year terms. HP Pavilion DV9255XX Battery
There is also a constitutional chamber, composed of ten members, and an economic and social council whose roles are purely consultative.
Political freedoms are severely restricted in Burkina Faso, with human rights organizations decrying numerous acts of state-sponsored violence against journalists and other politically active members of society. HP Pavilion DV9260NR Battery
Military, police, and security forces
The country employs numerous police and security forces, generally modeled after organizations used by French police, and France continues to provide significant support and training to police forces in Burkina Faso.[9] HP Pavilion DV9260US Battery
The Gendarmerie Nationale is organized along military lines, with most police services delivered at the brigade level.[10] The Gendarmerie operates under the authority of the Minister of Defence, and its members are employed chiefly in the rural areas and along borders.[10] HP Pavilion DV9265EA Battery
There is also a municipal police force controlled by the Ministry of Territorial Administration; a national police force controlled by the Ministry of Security; and an autonomous Presidential Security Regiment (Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle, or RSP), a ‘palace guard’ devoted to the protection of the President of the Republic.[10] HP Pavilion DV9265LA Battery
Both the gendarmerie and the national police are subdivided into both administrative and judicial police functions; the former are detailed to protect public order and provide security, the latter are charged with criminal investigations.[10] HP Pavilion DV9266EA Battery
All foreigners and citizens are required to carry photo ID passports, or other forms of identification or risk a fine, and police spot identity checks are commonplace for persons traveling by auto, bush-taxi, or bus.[11][12]
The army consists of some 6,000 men in voluntary service, HP Pavilion DV9266EU Battery
augmented by a part-time national People's Militia composed of civilians between 25 and 35 years of age who are trained in both military and civil duties. According to Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessment, Burkina Faso's Army is undermanned for its force structure and poorly equipped, HP Pavilion DV9267EA Battery
but has numbers of wheeled light-armour vehicles, and may have developed useful combat expertise through interventions in Liberia and elsewhere in Africa.
In terms of training and equipment, the regular Army is believed to be neglected in relation to the élite Presidential Security Regiment (RSP). HP Pavilion DV9267XX Battery
Reports have emerged in recent years of disputes over pay and conditions.[13] There is an air force with some 19 operational aircraft, but no navy, as the country is landlocked. Military expenses constitute approximately 1.2% of the nation’s GDP.
In April 2011, there was an army mutiny; the president named new chiefs of staff, and a curfew was imposed in Ouagadougou.[14] HP Pavilion DV9268EA Battery
Geography and climate
Burkina Faso lies mostly between latitudes 9° and 15°N (a small area is north of 15°), and longitudes 6°W and 3°E.
It is made up of two major types of countryside. The larger part of the country is covered by a peneplain, HP Pavilion DV9268XX Battery
which forms a gently undulating landscape with, in some areas, a few isolated hills, the last vestiges of a Precambrian massif. The southwest of the country, on the other hand, forms a sandstone massif, where the highest peak, Ténakourou, is found at an elevation of 749 meters (2,457 ft). HP Pavilion DV9269EA Battery
The massif is bordered by sheer cliffs up to 150 meters (492 ft) high. The average altitude of Burkina Faso is 400 meters (1,312 ft) and the difference between the highest and lowest terrain is no greater than 600 meters (1,969 ft). Burkina Faso is therefore a relatively flat country. HP Pavilion DV9269XX Battery
The country owes its former name of Upper Volta to three rivers which cross it: the Black Volta (or Mouhoun), the White Volta(Nakambé) and the Red Volta (Nazinon). The Black Volta is one of the country's only two rivers which flow year-round, the other being the Komoé, which flows to the southwest. HP Pavilion DV9271EA Battery
The basin of the Niger River also drains 27% of the country's surface.
The Niger's tributaries – the Béli, the Gorouol, the Goudébo and the Dargol – are seasonal streams and flow for only four to six months a year. They still can flood and overflow, however. The country also contains numerous lakes – the principal ones are Tingrela, Bam and Dem. HP Pavilion DV9271XX Battery
The country contains large ponds, as well, such as Oursi, Béli, Yomboli and Markoye. Water shortages are often a problem, especially in the north of the country.
Burkina Faso has a primarily tropical climate with two very distinct seasons. In the rainy season, the country receives between 600 and 900 millimeters (23.6 and 35.4 in) of rainfall; HP Pavilion DV9272EA Battery
in the dry season, the harmattan – a hot dry wind from the Sahara – blows. The rainy season lasts approximately four months, May/June to September, and is shorter in the north of the country. Three climatic zones can be defined: the Sahel, the Sudan-Sahel, and the Sudan-Guinea. HP Pavilion DV9272XX Battery
The Sahel in the north typically receives less than 600 millimeters (23.6 in)[15] of rainfall per year and has high temperatures, 5–47 degreesCelsius (41–116.6 °F).
A relatively dry tropical savanna, the Sahel extends beyond the borders of Burkina Faso, from the Horn of Africa to the Atlantic Ocean, HP Pavilion DV9273EA Battery
and borders the Sahara to its north and the fertile region of the Sudan to the South. Situated between 11°3' and 13°5' north latitude, the Sudan-Sahel region is a transitional zone with regards to rainfall and temperature. Further to the south, the Sudan-Guinea zone receives more than 900 millimeters (35.4 in)[15] of rain each year and has cooler average temperatures. HP Pavilion DV9273XX Battery
Burkina Faso's natural resources include manganese, limestone, marble, phosphates, pumice, salt and small deposits of gold.
Burkina Faso's fauna and flora are protected in two national parks and several reserves: see List of national parks in Africa, Nature reserves of Burkina Faso. HP Pavilion DV9274EA Battery
Economy
Burkina Faso has one of the lowest GDP per capita figures in the world: $1,200.[16] Agriculture represents 32% of its gross domestic product and occupies 80% of the working population. HP Pavilion DV9274EU Battery
It consists mostly of livestock but also, especially in the south and southwest, of growing sorghum, pearl millet, maize (corn), peanuts, rice and cotton. A large part of the economic activity of the country is funded by international aid.
Burkina Faso was ranked the 111th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings.[17] HP Pavilion DV9275EA Battery
Remittances used to be an important source of income to Burkina Faso until the 1990s, when unrest in Côte d'Ivoire, the main destination for Burkinabe emigrants, forced many to return home. Remittances now account for less than 1% of GDP. HP Pavilion DV9275LA Battery
Burkina Faso is part of the West African Monetary and Economic Union (UMEOA) and has thus adopted the CFA Franc, which is issued by the Central Bank of the West African States (BCEAO), situated in Dakar, Senegal. The BCEAO is not only responsible for the monetary and reserve policy of the member states, but also for the regulation and oversight of financial sector and banking activity. HP Pavilion DV9276EA Battery
A legal framework regarding licensing, bank activities, organizational and capital requirements, inspections and sanctions (all applicable to all countries of the Union) is in place and underwent significant reforms in 1999. Micro-finance institutions are governed by a separate law, which regulates micro-finance activities in all WAEMU countries. HP Pavilion DV9276XX Battery
The insurance sector is regulated through the Inter-African Conference on Insurance Markets (CIMA).[18]
There is mining of copper, iron, manganese, gold, cassiterite (tin ore), and phosphates.[19] HP Pavilion DV9283EA Battery
These operations provide employment, international aid, and in some cases hospitals at mines for the public. Gold production increased 32% in 2011 at six gold mine sites, making Burkina Faso the fourth largest gold producer in Africa, after South Africa, Mali and Ghana.[20] HP Pavilion DV9283XX Battery
Burkina Faso also hosts the International Art and Craft Fair, Ouagadougou, better known by its French name as SIAO, Le Salon International de l' Artisanat de Ouagadougou, one of the most important African handicraft fairs.
Burkina Faso is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).[21] HP Pavilion DV9285EA Battery
While services remain underdeveloped, one state-owned utility company run along commercial lines is emerging as one of the best performing utility companies in Africa, the National Office for Water and Sanitation (ONEA).[22] High levels of autonomy and a skilled and dedicated management has driven ONEA's ability to improve production of and access to water.[22] HP Pavilion DV9285XX Battery
Since 2000, nearly 2 million more people have access to water in the four principal urban centres in the country while at the same time keeping the quality of infrastructure high (less than 18% of the water is lost through leaks – one of the lowest in sub-Saharan Africa), improving financial reporting and an average 12% annual revenue increase (well above inflation).[22] HP Pavilion DV9286EA Battery
Challenges remain, including the some customers' ability to pay and a reliance on aid for the expansion of its infrastructure.[22] However, the state-owned commercially run venture has helped lead Burkina Faso's Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets in its water-related targets and grow as a viable company.[22] HP Pavilion DV9286XX Battery
Demographics
Burkina Faso's 15.3 million people belong to two major West African cultural groups—the Voltaic and the Mande (whose common language is Dioula). The Voltaic Mossi make up about one-half of the population. HP Pavilion DV9287CL Battery
The Mossi claim descent from warriors who migrated to present-day Burkina Faso from Ghana and established an empire that lasted more than 800 years. Predominantly farmers, the Mossi kingdom is still led by the Mogho Naba, whose court is in Ouagadougou.[23] HP Pavilion DV9287XX Battery
Burkina Faso is an ethnically integrated, secular state. Most of Burkina's people are concentrated in the south and center of the country, sometimes exceeding 48 per square kilometer (125/sq. mi.). Hundreds of thousands of Burkinabe migrate to Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, many for seasonal agricultural work. HP Pavilion DV9288EA Battery
These flows of workers are obviously affected by external events; the September 2002 coup attempt in Côte d'Ivoire and the ensuing fighting there have meant that hundreds of thousands of Burkinabe returned to Burkina Faso.[23]
Health
Average life expectancy at birth in 2004 was estimated at 52 for females and 50 for males.[24] HP Pavilion DV9288XX Battery
The median age of its inhabitants is 16.7. The estimated population growth rate is 3.109%.[25] Central government spending on health was 3% in 2001.[26] As of 2009, it was estimated that there were as few as 10 physicians per 100,000 people.[24] In addition there were only 41 nurses, and 13 midwives per 100,000 people.[24] HP Pavilion DV9289EA Battery
Demographic and Health Surveys has completed three surveys in Burkina Faso since 1993 and is currently in the process of performing another.[27]
In 2009, it was estimated that the adult HIV prevalence rate (ages 15–49) was 1.2%.[28] HP Pavilion DV9289XX Battery
According to the 2011 UNAIDS Report, HIV prevalence is declining among pregnant women that attend antenatal clinics.[29]
According to the World Health Organization in 2005 an estimated 72.5% of Burkina Faso's girls and women have suffered female genital mutilation.[30] HP Pavilion DV9291EA Battery
Religion
Statistics on religion in Burkina Faso are inexact, because Islam and Christianity are often practiced in tandem with indigenous religious beliefs. The Government of Burkina Faso stated in its most recent census (2006) that 60.5% of the population practice Islam, HP Pavilion DV9291XX Battery
and that the majority of this group belong to the Sunni branch,[31][32] while a growing minority adheres to the Shi'a branch. A significant number of Sunni Muslims identify with the Tijaniyah Sufi order. The Government also estimated that some 23.2% are Christians (19% being Roman Catholics and 4.2% members of various Protestant denominations), HP Pavilion DV9292EU Battery
15.3% follow Traditional indigenous beliefs, 0.6% have other religions, and 0.4% have none (atheism is virtually nonexistent).[31][32]
A popular saying in Burkina Faso claims that "50% are Muslim, 50% are Christian, and 100% are animist". HP Pavilion DV9292XX Battery
This shows the large level of acceptance of the various religions amongst each other. Even for Muslims and Christians, ancient animist rites are still highly valued. The Great Mosque of Bobo-Dioulasso was built by people of different faiths working together.
Culture
Literature in Burkina Faso is based on the oral tradition, which remains important. HP Pavilion DV9293EA Battery
In 1934, during French occupation, Dim-Dolobsom Ouedraogo published his Maximes, pensées et devinettes mossi (Maximes, Thoughts and Riddles of the Mossi), a record of the oral history of the Mossi people.[33] The oral tradition continued to have an influence on Burkinabè writers in the post-independence Burkina Faso of the 1960s, HP Pavilion DV9293XX Battery
such as Nazi Boni and Roger Nikiema.[34] The 1960s saw a growth in the number of playwrights being published.[33] Since the 1970s, literature has developed in Burkina Faso with many more writers being published.[35] HP Pavilion DV9294EA Battery
The theatre of Burkina Faso combines traditional Burkinabè performance with the colonial influences and post-colonial efforts to educate rural people to produce a distinctive national theatre. Traditional ritual ceremonies of the many ethnic groups in Burkina Faso have long involved dancing with masks. HP Pavilion DV9294EU Battery
Western-style theatre became common during colonial times, heavily influenced by French theatre. With independence came a new style of theatre inspired by forum theatre aimed at educating and entertaining Burkina Faso's rural people.
Arts and Crafts
There is also a large artist community in Burkina Faso, especially in Ouagadougou. HP Pavilion DV9295EA Battery
Much of the crafts produced are for the growing tourist industry. Tigoung Nonma was set up by a group of disabled artisans and sells crafts to provide a sustainable income for disabled artisans in Burkina Faso.[36]
Cuisine
The cuisine of Burkina Faso, typical of west African cuisine, HP Pavilion DV9295EU Battery
is based around staple foods of sorghum, millet, rice, maize,peanuts, potatoes, beans, yams and okra.[37] The most common sources of protein are chicken, chicken eggs and fresh water fish. A typical Burkinabè beverage is Banji or Palm Wine, which is fermented palm sap, and Zoom-kom. HP Pavilion DV9296EA Battery
Especially the town ofBanfora is known for its good quality Banji, though one should be wary of the Banji sold by hawkers as it is often not very fresh and may contain added water.
On 30 August 2009, Burkina Faso experienced the worst flood in the country's recent history, leaving 150,000 people homeless, and more than 8 people dead. HP Pavilion DV9296EU Battery
Burkina Faso people requested international aid to help the victims and rebuild the country. Japan, France, Ivory Coast and the European Union responded, while the Burkina American community requested that the president of the United States of America extend a helping hand to the victims of the flood. HP Pavilion DV9297EA Battery
As a result of the flood, access to clean water has been difficult for survivors.
Cinema
The cinema of Burkina Faso is an important part of West African and African film industry.[38] Burkina's contribution to African cinema started with the establishment of the film festival FESPACO (Festival Panafricain du Cinéma et de la Télévision de Ouagadougou), HP Pavilion DV9297XX Battery
which was launched as a film week in 1969. Many of the nation's filmmakers are known internationally and have won international prizes. For many years the headquarters of the Federation of Panafrican Filmmakers (FEPACI) was in Ouagadougou, rescued in 1983 from a period of moribund inactivity by the enthusiastic support and funding of President Sankara HP Pavilion DV9299EA Battery
(In 2006 the Secretariat of FEPACI moved to South Africa but the headquarters of the organization is still in Ouagaoudougou). Among the best known directors from Burkina Faso are Gaston Kaboré, Idrissa Ouedraogo and Dani Kouyate.[39]Burkina also produces popular television series such as Bobodjiouf. HP Pavilion DV9299XX Battery
The internationally known filmmakers such as Ouedraogo, Kabore, Yameogo, and Kouyate also make popular television series.
Sports
Sport in Burkina Faso is widespread and includes football (soccer), basketball, cycling, Rugby union, handball, tennis, athletics, boxing and martial arts. HP Pavilion DV9300 Battery
Football is very popular in Burkina Faso, played both professionally, and informally in towns and villages across the country. The national team is nicknamed "Les Etalons" ("the Stallions") in reference to the legendary horse of Princess Yennenga. In 1998, Burkina Faso hosted the African Cup of Nations for which the Omnisport Stadium in Bobo-Dioulasso was built. HP Pavilion DV9301TX Battery
The country is currently ranked 42nd in the FIFA World Rankings.[40]
Education
Education in Burkina Faso is divided into primary, secondary and higher education.[41] However schooling costs approximately CFA 50,000 ($97 USD) per year, which is far above the means of most Burkinabè families. HP Pavilion DV9301XX Battery
Boys receive preference in schooling; as such, girls' education and literacy rates are far lower than their male counterparts. An increase in girls' schooling has been observed because of the government's policy of making school cheaper for girls and granting them more scholarships. HP Pavilion DV9302TX Battery
In order to proceed from elementary to middle school, middle to high school or high school to college, national exams must be passed. Institutions of higher education include the University of Ouagadougou, The Polytechnical University in Bobo-Dioulasso and the University of Koudougou, which is also a teacher training institution. HP Pavilion DV9302XX Battery
There are private colleges in the capital city of Ouagadougou but these are affordable by only a small portion of the population.
There is also an International School of Ouagadougou (ISO), which is an American-based private school located in Ouagadougou. HP Pavilion DV9303EU Battery
The UN Development Program Report ranks Burkina Faso as the country with the lowest level of literacy in the world, despite a concerted effort to double its literacy rate from 12.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2008.[42]
National and independent media
The nation's principal media outlet is its state-sponsored combined television and radio service, Radiodiffusion-Télévision Burkina (RTB).[43] HP Pavilion DV9303TX Battery
RTB broadcasts on two medium-wave (AM) and several FM frequencies. Besides RTB, there are also a number of privately owned sports, cultural, music, and religious FM radio stations. RTB also maintains a worldwide short-wave news broadcast (Radio Nationale Burkina) in the French language from the capital at Ouagadougou using a 100 kW transmitter on 4.815 and 5.030 MHz.[44] HP Pavilion DV9304EU Battery
Attempts to develop an independent press and media in Burkina Faso have been intermittent. In 1998, investigative journalistNorbert Zongo, his brother Ernest, his driver, and another man were assassinated by unknown assailants, and the bodies burned. The crime was never solved.[45] HP Pavilion DV9304TX Battery
However, an independent Commission of Inquiry later concluded that Norbert Zongo was killed for political reasons because of his investigative work into the death of David Ouedraogo, a chauffeur who worked for François Compaoré, President Blaise Compaoré's brother. HP Pavilion DV9305TX Battery
In January 1999, François Compaoré was charged with the murder of David Ouedraogo, who had died as a result of torture in January 1998. The charges were later dropped by a military tribunal after an appeal. In August 2000, five members of the President's personal security guard detail HP Pavilion DV9305XX Battery
(Régiment de la Sécurité Présidentielle, or RSP) were charged with the murder of Ouedraogo. RSP members Marcel Kafando, Edmond Koama, and Ousseini Yaro, investigated as suspects in the Norbert Zongo assassination, were convicted in the Ouedraogo case and sentenced to lengthy prison terms.[46][47] HP Pavilion DV9306TX Battery
Since the death of Norbert Zongo, several protests regarding the Zongo investigation and treatment of journalists have been prevented or dispersed by government police and security forces. In April 2007, popular radio reggae host Karim Sama, whose programs feature reggae songs interspersed with critical commentary on alleged government injustice and corruption, HP Pavilion DV9306XX Battery
received several death threats.[48] HP Pavilion DV9307TX Battery
Sama's personal car was later burned outside the private radio station Ouaga FMby unknown vandals.[49] In response, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote to President Compaoré to request his government investigate the sending of e-mailed death threats to journalists and radio commentators in Burkina Faso who were critical of the government.[45] HP Pavilion DV9307XX Battery
In December 2008, police in Ouagadougou questioned leaders of a protest march that called for a renewed investigation into the unsolved Zongo assassination. Among the marchers was Jean-Claude Meda, the president of the Association of Journalists of Burkina Faso. HP Pavilion DV9308NR Battery
The Politics of Burkina Faso takes place in a framework of a presidential republic, whereby the President of Burkina Fasois both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government.Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. HP Pavilion DV9308TX Battery
The party system is dominated by the Congress for Democracy and Progress. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Political history
In 1990, the Popular Front held its first National Congress, which formed a committee to draft a national constitution. The constitution was approved by referendum in 1991. HP Pavilion DV9309EA Battery
In 1992, Blaise Compaoré was elected president, running unopposed after the opposition boycotted the election because of Compaoré's refusal to accede to demands of the opposition such as a sovereign National Conference to set modalities. The opposition did participate in the following year's legislative elections, in which the ODP/MT won a majority of seats. HP Pavilion DV9309TX Battery
The government of the Fourth Republic includes a strong presidency, a prime minister, a Council of Ministers presided over by the president, a two-chamber National Assembly, and the judiciary. The legislature and judiciary are independent but remain susceptible to outside influence. HP Pavilion DV9310CA Battery
In 1995, Burkina held its first multiparty municipal elections since independence. With minor exceptions, balloting was considered free and fair by the local human rights organizations which monitored the contest. The president's ODP/MT won over 1,100 of some 1,700 councillor seats being contested. HP Pavilion DV9310EA Battery
In February 1996, the ruling ODP/MT merged with several small opposition parties to form the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). This effectively co-opted much of what little viable opposition to Compaoré existed. The remaining opposition parties regrouped in preparation for 1997 legislative elections and the 1998 presidential election. HP Pavilion DV9310TX Battery
The 1997 legislative elections, which international observers pronounced to be substantially free, fair, and transparent, resulted in a large CDP majority—101 to 111 seats.
The president is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and may serve up to two terms. The prime minister is appointed by the president with the consent of the legislature. HP Pavilion DV9310US Battery
The constitution of June 2, 1991, established a semi-presidential government with a parliament (Assemblée) which can be dissolved by the President of the Republic, who is elected for a term of 5 years. The year 2000 saw a constitutional amendment reducing the presidential term from 7 to 5 years, which was enforced during the 2005 elections. HP Pavilion DV9311EA Battery
Another change according to the amendment would have prevented sitting president Blaise Compaoré from being re-elected. However, notwithstanding a challenge by other presidential candidates, in October 2005, the constitutional council ruled that because Compaoré was already a sitting president in 2000, HP Pavilion DV9311EU Battery
the amendment would not apply to him until the end of his second term in office, thereby clearing the way for his candidacy in the 2005 election. On November 13 Compaoré was reelected in a landslide due to a divided political opposition. HP Pavilion DV9312EA Battery
A large-scale, drought-induced famine occurred in Africa's Sahel region and many parts of the neighboring Sénégal River Area and Horn of Africa from February to August 2010. It is one of many famines to have hit the region in recent times.[3]
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the north of Africa and the Sudanian savannas in the south,
HP Pavilion DV9312EU Battery
covering an area of 3,053,200 square kilometers. It is a transitional ecoregion of semi-arid grasslands, savannas, steppes, and thorn shrublands.[4]
The neighboring Sénégal River Area contains various vegetation types and covers parts or all of Mauritania, Mali, Senegaland Guinea. HP Pavilion DV9313EA Battery
It has also had very low rainfall over the last year according to the UN, NGOs and the Senegal River Basin Development Authority.[5][6] Sudan set a new temperature record of 49.7 °C (121.3 °F) on 22 June, in the town ofDongola. HP Pavilion DV9313EU Battery
Overview
Famine and food shortages were present in the following countries during 2010 after heavy rains hit the region in late 2009, followed by a heat wave:Eritrea, the Sudan, the Niger, northern Nigeria, northern Cameroon, Chad, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, HP Pavilion DV9314EA Battery
Mali, Ethiopia, northern Kenya and Djibouti, as well as in parts of the neighboring Sénégal River Area.[5][6][10]
In December 2009, both USAID and several NGOs predicted an increased food insecurity situation in more of the southerndistricts of Mali as compared to the same time the previous year. HP Pavilion DV9314EU Battery
Environmental problems
The Western donor nations once theorised that the drought in the Sahel primarily was caused by humans over-using natural resources in the region through overgrazing, deforestation[12] and poor land management.[13][14] HP Pavilion DV9315CA Battery
In the late 1990s, climate model studies suggested that large-scale climate changes were also triggers for the drought.
In the early 2000s, after the phenomenon of global dimming was discovered, some speculatively suggested, HP Pavilion DV9315EA Battery
that the drought was likely caused by air pollution generated in Eurasia and North America. The pollution changed the properties of clouds over the Atlantic Ocean, disturbing the monsoons and shifting the tropical rains southwards. Global dimming, the blocking of sunlight by man-made particulates, HP Pavilion DV9316EA Battery
has been identified as one culprit for a decades-long drought across sub-Saharan Africa, including Ethiopia.[15]
A 2006 study by NOAA scientists Rong Zhang and Thomas L. Delworth suggests that the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation/(MAO) plays a leading role. HP Pavilion DV9316XX Battery
An AMO warm phase strengthens the summer rainfall over Sahel, while a cold phase reduces it.[16] The AMO entered a warm phase in 1995 and, by assuming the presence of a thearetical 70-year cycle (following peaks in ≈1880 and ≈1950), it would probably peak around about 2020.[17] HP Pavilion DV9317CA Battery
The Sahel’s farmers are largely cleared of blame for the 20th century’s Sahel droughts.[18] The Sahel region’s droughts in the 1970s and 1980s were caused by the recent warming of the Indian Ocean, and not by over farming causing environmental degradation as previously assumed, according to a new joint Scidev/UN study. HP Pavilion DV9317CL Battery
With both a 3.5 C. rise in the Niger's temperature over the last decade and with irrigated land accounting for only 0.1% of the Niger's inhabitable land, made a regular famine crisis inevitable in most years. Acute water shortages are common in the region's harsh weather so making irrigation systems all the more important for the local farmers. HP Pavilion DV9317EA Battery
The demise of Lake Chad
The Lake Chad basin straddles over the borders of both Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad. The lake is situated 281 metres (922 ft) above sea level and is diminishing over time due to lack of rain water and major rivers running in to it.[22] HP Pavilion DV9317XX Battery
According to the UN the marshy lake shrank as much as by 95% from about 1963 to 1998[23] yet they also state that "The 2007 (satellite) image shows significant improvement over previous years". Lake Chad is economically important, providing water to more than 20 million people living in the four countries that surround it HP Pavilion DV9318CA Battery
(Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria) on the edge of the Sahara Desert. The plant Typha Australis (or big cattails) are cutting off water supplies in the Lake Chad Basin and has slashed available water supplies in the Chad’s region to.The only protected area is Lake Chad Game Reserve, which covers half of the area next to the lake that belongs to Nigeria. HP Pavilion DV9318EA Battery
The whole lake has been declared aRamsar site of international importance.
The Ubangi River diversion proposal
In the 1960s, a plan was proposed to divert the Ubangi River into Lake Chad. The copious amount of water from the Ubangi would revitalize the dying Lake Chad and provide livelihood in fishing and enhanced agriculture to tens of millions of central Africans and Sahelians. HP Pavilion DV9319EA Battery
Inter-basin water transfer schemes were proposed in the 1980s and 1990s by Nigerianengineer J. Umolu (ZCN Scheme) and Italian firm Bonifica (Transaqua Scheme). In 1994, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) proposed a similar project and at a March, 2008 Summit, the Heads of State of the LCBC member countries committed to the diversion project. HP Pavilion DV9319XX Battery
In April, 2008, the LCBC advertised a request for proposals for a World Bank-funded feasibility study.
The possible effects of cash crops
Cotton and groundnutsare two of Chad's four major cash crops.[31] Mali's major cash crops are peanuts[32] and cotton. HP Pavilion DV9320CA Battery
Mali's cotton production has grown from 500,000 tonnes in 1997 to a record 635,000 tonnes in 2003, which has pleased the African Association of Cotton Producers, but has also led to a claim that cash crops are being put before food and fodder crops in Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad. HP Pavilion DV9320EA Battery
Cassava production has fallen slightly inBurkina Faso since 2007, relative to cotton output. Their cash crops are cotton, groundnuts, shea nuts, and sesame.The Sahel’s farmers are largely cleared of blame for the 20th century’s Sahel droughts,but there is the enduring question of whether cash crops like cotton are more important than food plants like wheat and casava. HP Pavilion DV9320US Battery
Over-population
Many of the world's countries, including many in Sub-saharan Africa, the Middle East and South East Asia, have seen a sharp rise in population since the end of the Cold War. HP Pavilion DV9320XX Battery
The fear is that high population numbers are putting further strain on natural resources, food supplies, fuel supplies, employment, housing, etc.; in some of the less fortunate countries. The population of Chad has, for example, ultimately grown from 6,279,921 in 1993 to 10,329,208 in 2009,[43] further straining its resources. HP Pavilion DV9322EA Battery
Nigeria, Egypt and Ethiopia are witnessing a similar growth in population, strained resources and a possible over-population problem in the near future.
The situation was most acute in northern, western and central Africa. HP Pavilion DV9322XX Battery
Refugees from places like the Sudan have helped further strain the resources of neighboring states like the Chad and Egypt. The nation is also host to roughly 255,000 refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region, and about 77,000 refugees from theCentral African Republic, whilst approximately 188,000 Chadians have been displaced by their own civil war and famines, HP Pavilion DV9323EA Battery
have either fled to either the Sudan, the Niger or, more recently, Libya.
Aid workers being driven off by kidnappers
On 25 August had a French aid worker kidnapped in Chad.The kidnapping of foreigners along the Chad/Darfur border became more frequent in 2009. HP Pavilion DV9323XX Battery
A French NGO worker was taken and then murdered on 29 October 2009,[63] and an unidentified Red Cross worker was captured on 10 November 2009.[64] Many NGOs and charities have started to restrict the areas covered by their aid work in Niger, Chad, and Sudan due to the ever present risk of bandits and kidnappers. HP Pavilion DV9330CA Battery
The organisations are thus pulling out in fear of their lives.
Most international aid agencies withdraw workers from some areas of the Sahel, due to the regional kidnapping crisis. Niger's government spokesman Mahamane Lawali Danda told the B.B.C. HP Pavilion DV9330US Battery
that the pullout came as a surprise to him since no one had told him or his government Niger was on the list of dangerous 'kidnapper infested' pariah nations, along with Chad, Darfur and Sudan. Strangely Mauritania and Mali were not on the list of dangerous nations, despite of several al-Qaeda lead kidnappings in both during 2009. HP Pavilion DV9331EU Battery
January
Both the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS), UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) and International Food Policy Research Institute(IFPRI) warn of an imminent famine in parts of Ethiopia, Somaliland and Somalia on 1 January.[87] HP Pavilion DV9331XX Battery
The Ethiopian government denied UN and WFP accusations that 20,000,000 are in need of food aid and that there is a famine in the north east, east and south west of the country on 1 January. The WFP warned of major food shortages from January to March 2010. Ethiopia's government said only 6,000,000 need help from central government sources only. HP Pavilion DV9332EA Battery
They also tried to downplay comparisons to and the number of victim actually recorded in the Great 1984–85 famine of Band Aid and Live Aid fame. Both Somalia and Somaliland were willing to take up the UN's offer of help.[87]
11 January saw an emerging famine situation in south eastern Sudan according to the UN, NGOs, the EU and various Charities.[88] HP Pavilion DV9332XX Battery
On 13 January the Irish charity Hunger Organization sent aid and officials to Gorta in Kenya’s part of the Great Rift Valley, which is one of the most famine-effected regions.[89] [90] Since 2009, the Horn of Africa has been hit particularly hard, with an estimated 100,000 cattle dying in Kenya during 2009 due to lack of water. HP Pavilion DV9334US Battery
The Kenyan government estimated that about 10,000,000 faced imminent food shortages and feared that a nationwide famine was about to unfold, with malnutrition and disease-infested drinking water adding to their fears.[89][90] The drought had intensified in late 2009 and food had begun to run out in January, 2010.[89][90] HP Pavilion DV9334XX Battery
The government of Niger says 7,800,000 risk starvation in 2010 as heavy drought and high heat hit Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali,Chad and northern Nigeria on both 27 and 28 January and was estimated to need about $220,000,000 million this year in food and agricultural aid.[9] HP Pavilion DV9335NR Battery
The EU’s ECHO aid department said of signs of food shortages were in Niger and spreading to neighbors such as Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and northern Nigeria as 15,000,000 are estimated to face a chronic food shortage in Niger. The EU and UN also put out a famine alert for Niger, HP Pavilion DV9335XX Battery
Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad and northern Nigeria and began to appeal for aid[9] on the 28th. The EU, China and Russia stopped giving Niger aid in 2009 after President Mamadou Tandja defied UN, EU and worldwide criticism over extending his term in office.[9] HP Pavilion DV9340EA Battery
February
The UN, NGOs and charities warn of heavy food insecurity in Southern Sudan throughout February due to an emerging famine and the ongoing conflict between Misseriya nomad in the Southern Kordofan department.
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The rainfall was reported at an all time low in Mauritania and neighboring parts of Senegal during most of February and early March.
The EU warns of a pending Sahel famine centered upon Niger, Burkina Faso and Chad[91] on 1 February. HP Pavilion DV9342EU Battery
Several NGOs said 3,500,000 Somalians were also in danger of falling victim to famine conditions in their country on 12 February.[92]
March
Human Rights Watch said that Al Qaeda should stop targeting African civilians and aid workers on 16 March.[93] HP Pavilion DV9342XX Battery
A drought is confirmed to have hit parts of Burkina Faso on 10 March, by USAID and the UN.[94]
13 March saw the UN, NGOs, the EU and various charities put out a famine alert for parts of southern Sudan.[95] HP Pavilion DV9343CA Battery
15 March had Britain's Save The Children charity launch an appeal as 840,000 Nigerians are confirmed to be in imminent risk of a famine.[96]
On 17 March, a famine was declared in Mao in Chad’s sand-swept Kanem region.[97] HP Pavilion DV9343EU Battery
On 23 March 2010, major sandstorms hit Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea and inland Sierra Leone. Another hit southern Algeria, inlandMauritania, Mali and northern Côte d’Ivoire[98] at the same time.
On 31 March, the senior Eritrean diplomat Tsfamariam Tekeste said, HP Pavilion DV9344EU Battery
“Food aid in a normal situation cripples a society and the mentality of people. The people stop praying for rain and start praying for rain in the donor countries.” and that “Food aid had become an ‘industry’ in Eritrea.” Eritrean activist Mussie Hadgu said, “The humanitarian situation in the country is alarming,” HP Pavilion DV9344XX Battery
in a interview with The Media Line,[99] as a famine is officially reported in the reclusive police state.[99] This is despite the fact that Eritrea has vast, untapped fisheries.[100]
April
During April and June, Islamic Relief (IR) sent aid workers to the North Kordofan to help improve their 16-year-old Um Dam and North Kordofan Water Project(NKWP).[101] HP Pavilion DV9345EU Battery
The UN, NGOs, charities and the Sudanese government reported that food security was a major concern in South Sudan and would stay at risk until the rainy season in September.[102]
8 April had starving children and elders fill the wards of a hospital in Akobo, Sudan.[1] HP Pavilion DV9345XX Battery
Several aid groups like Save the Children and Medair found out that 46% of children in the region were malnourished.[1] The U.N. blamed two years of failed rainfall[1][1] and the ongoing tribal clashes in the region for helping to create the humanitarian crisis in southern Sudan.[1] HP Pavilion DV9346EU Battery
The World Food Programme(WFP) was feeding 80,000 (up from 20,000 since April 2009) and the U.N. says 4,300,000 people in southern Sudan need food aid.[1] The U.N. also said Akobo Woreda in Ethiopia was also experiencing rainfall shortages.[1]
On 23 April 2010, said Nigerien Culture Minister Aminata Takoubakoyea, HP Pavilion DV9346XX Battery
there was a reported food supply deficit of 119,700 tonnes and a fodder supply deficit of 16,000,000 tonnes. Niger’s leading musicians and singers held a charity concert in Niamey to assist.[103]
May
On 1 May, the West African nation of Chad was on the verge of a nationwide famine as drought, HP Pavilion DV9347CL Battery
armed conflict, and an influx of Darfur refugees all contributed to a chronic food shortage that now affects 2,000,000 people (20% of the country's total population). Various aid groups, NGOs and charities said a catastrophic famine could hit the country in the near future if food relief does not arrive soon. HP Pavilion DV9347XX Battery
The UN warned that a famine had hit the town of Mao in Chad's Kanemregion.[97]
The city of Niamey, Niger took in refugees from Tillabéri department 12 days before, after they turned up hoping the city would help them. The towns of Kongomé,Zinder, Tanout and Dalli were the worst hit by the drought by 3 May.[105] HP Pavilion DV9348EA Battery
Morocco gives a short term cash loan to both the Niger and Mali.[73]
NGOs and Charities report famine conditions Kindal region on the 5th.[106]
On 12 and 26 May, both Mauritania, the Sénégal River Area and neighboring parts of both Senegal and Mali faced both drought and famine.[5][6] HP Pavilion DV9348XX Battery
14 May had USAID issue a food shortage alert for the Kordofan states.[73]
Seven died of dehydration in Ghaidi Magha, Mauritania, near the Malian border on 18 May.[10]
Afrol News reported on 25 May that about 2,000,000 Chadians were at risk of having a famine occur in their regions after the combined effects of 2 years of drought and pestilence had ruined their harvest yet again.[107] HP Pavilion DV9350EA Battery
On 27 and 28 May, Mali and Niger faced a famine situation in their northern territories. The Kidal, Timboktu and Gao had their crops and live stock die off.Gao’s historic nomad market had virtually no food stuffs or animal fodder in it.[108]
31 May saw Chad embroiled in a fiscal controversy. HP Pavilion DV9350XX Battery
A 12 metre statue of a horseman, the Rond-point de la Grande Armée, in the capital N'djamena, cost over $3,000,000. Both local critics, NGOs and overseas donor nations all wondered where the money had come from and thought it would have been better spent on buying food and irrigation equipment.[109] HP Pavilion DV9351EA Battery
June
NGOs, various charities and the UN warned of heavy food shortages and food insecurity in Sudan's Blue Nile, Kassala, Janub Darfur, South Kordofan and North Kordofan departments.[110][111] HP Pavilion DV9351XX Battery
Dehydration was reported to have killed one person in Niger, while others in the region were at risk of water shortages on 1 June.[112]
Severe drought caused to 10,000,000 to go seriously short on as the Eastern Sahel crisis increases and local food prices surge on 3 June.[44] HP Pavilion DV9361EA Battery
Niger has 7,100,00 victims, Chad has 2,000,000 victims and other country have 900,000 victims in total. Niger, Chad, the eastern parts of Mali and northern Cameroon have also been badly affected by the failed rains and scorching heat, according to the UN World Food Programme.[44] HP Pavilion DV9361XX Battery
The WFP, which plans to assist 3,600,000 people in the coming months and said the crisis is expected to last at least until the next harvest in September 2010.[44] The British charity Save the Children, launched an emergency appeal for Niger. HP Pavilion DV9362EA Battery
Starving families were reported as either have travelled more than 600 miles to reach the capital Niamey to find work and/or beg for food, while others have crossed the border in Nigeria.[44] A Similar situation is occurring in Chad as, desperate Chadians fled in to southern Libya. HP Pavilion DV9362XX Battery
Sudan andBurkina Faso were in a server food insecure situation to.[44]
On 6 June, growing famine in the Niger drove thousand of refugees in to the Nigerian provinces of Kano and Katsina states. About 7,000,000 were facing a food shortage crisis in Niger.[113] HP Pavilion DV9363EA Battery
On 7 June the Malian Government's Early Warning System released an estimate that 258,000 people were suffering from malnutrition in the towns of Gao and Kidalin April. Low and erratic rainfall in 2009 had occurred in Timbuktu, Kidal, and Gao, leading to a heavy regional drought.[114] HP Pavilion DV9363XX Battery
Hundreds of refugees moved to Gaofrom Burkina Faso and Niger, but were now too weak with starvation to leave Mali. The UN and Mali's government asked the developed nations for food aid and financial help in the face of the growing humanitarian crisis.[114] The amount taken in Nigeria's harvest was down by 65,000 tones, whilst Niger had virtually nothing to take from their harvest. HP Pavilion DV9372EU Battery
8 June saw France food aid to and the European Union pledged an additional $28,000,000 million to help the millions of victims in the Niger, the Chad, Burkina Faso, and northern Nigeria.[115] The charity Save the Children sent a team to Aguie in Niger, HP Pavilion DV9372XX Battery
850 km north east from the capitol Niamey, to set up an aid centre on the 8th[116] and reported back on the 9th than 350,000 children faced severe malnutrition.[117] On 9 June, various groups of hydrologists, geologists and scientists in the Sahara desert used magnetic imaging technology when looking for aquifer sites for drilling water wells in Eastern Chad.
HP Pavilion DV9374EU Battery
Both northern Mali, southern Libya, southern Algeria, eastern Chad were being examined in part of an ongoing project to find viable drilling as the region’s nations try to find new water sources to keep up with their growing demand. In recent years, roughly 300,000 refugees have arrived from both the war-torn Sudan and ailing Central African Republic, HP Pavilion DV9374XX Battery
thus straining the already limited water supplies. Both Algeria, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger have shown a major interest in the further development of this resource lead local industry.[118][119][120]
On 11 June, the UN's World Food Organisation, HP Pavilion DV9375EU Battery
Oxfam and MSF all warned of an impending famine in Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Niger and northern Nigeria. Niger's Diffa Region was of the most concern to the experts at hand.[121]
13 June saw roughly 30% crop failure in some of Niger’s provinces.[122] HP Pavilion DV9375XX Battery
21 June had International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) sent to 318,000 people in the drought hit Hargeisa and Awdal regions of Somaliland[123][124] as a new heat wave hit Niger on 21 June, causing a increased area of drought in that country as well. Niger's crops failed and famine occurred. HP Pavilion DV9377EA Battery
About 350,000 faced starvation and 1,200,000 were at risk of famine according to the Niger's government,[125] while the UN said roughly 2,000,000 Chadians, 7,000,0000 Nigerians and 1,000,000 other people of the Sahel region faced starvation and 200,000 Nigerian children were malnourished.[125] HP Pavilion DV9377XX Battery
In over-heated Chad, the temperature reached 47.6 °C (117.7 °F) on 22 June in Faya-Largeau, breaking a record set in 1961 at the same location. Niger tied its highest temperature record set in 1998, on also 22 June, at 47.1 °C in Bilma. That record was broken the next day, on 23 June when Bilma hit 48.2 °C (118.8 °F). HP Pavilion DV9378EA Battery
The hottest temperature recorded in Sudan was reached on 22 June, at 49.7 °C (121.3 °F) in Dongola, breaking a record set in 1987. Sudan's record temperature was matched on the 23rd too.[7]
23 June had the UN, WFP and various humanitarian agencies request $190,700,000 million to enable them respond to the unfolding famine in Niger. HP Pavilion DV9378XX Battery
The UN estimates that just under 50% of country's 7,100,000 people risked starving to death.[123][126] The UN and Ugandan also reported that the prolonged drought in 2009 which lasted nearly months and resent heavy rain storms had destroyed groundnut production in Uganda's Teso and Kkumi districts. HP Pavilion DV9379EA Battery
The Ugandan government and NGOs feared that further Sudanese refugee influxes could cause heavy food shortages in Uganda.[123][126]
On 24 June the government of Niger admitted that it was suffering from a major famine and said aid workers and NGOs were now welcome.[127] HP Pavilion DV9379XX Battery
The government of theIvory Coast had reported to various NGOs that it was struggling to control desertification and imminent drought conditions in parts of its northern savannalands.[127] Oxfam launch a £7,000,000 emergency appeal to try to help more than 800,000 of the most vulnerable people in Chad, Niger and Mali.[ HP Pavilion DV9380CA Battery
26 June saw 1,600,000 Chadians facing food insecurity in the Bahr el Gazel Region, Batha Region, Guera Region, Hadjer-Lamis Region, Lac Region and the Kanem Region. About 604,000 people were benefiting from its assistance as a total 60% of families became victims of the famine in varying degrees according to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP). HP Pavilion DV9380EA Battery
Chad appealed to donors for increased contribution to the international famine relief operation in Chad that received US$ 42,100,000 from of a pledged total of US$ 65,000,000, to enable it continue all its relief work and charitable activities until the end of the year 2010. HP Pavilion DV9381EA Battery
Cameroon also suffered from heavy desertification in the savanna regions of South Region, Centre Region, West Region, Northwest Region and Far North Region.[127][129]
July
July saw sporadic and small-scale food riots in Sudan's Blue Nile, Janub Darfur, South Kordofan and North Kordofandepartments.[130] HP Pavilion DV9381XX Battery
The Muslim Hands charity set up an appeal and sent aid to Niger and Mali in July. It was the worst Niger faminesince 1984, with 3,500,000 people starving.[131]
6 July saw the Methodist Relief and Development Fund (MRDF) aid experts say that more than 1,500,000 Nigerians were at risk of famine due to a month-long heat wave that was hovering over Niger, HP Pavilion DV9385EA Battery
Mali, Mauritania and Morocco. A fund of about £20,000 was distributed to the crisis-hit countries of Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.[132]
The heat wave that left an overheating Morocco for the Iberian Peninsula on 11 July was attributed to the regional hot air currents that depart from the Sahara desert in Northern Africa at about 1,000 meters in altitude. HP Pavilion DV9385XX Battery
This facilitated a movement in the hot air towards the Balkans and the Ukraine via the Straits of Gibraltar, Spain and Italy.[133] Unusually hot weather was also reported in parts of Algeria on 11 July.
12 July saw a local goat farmer killed and his small flock stolen by Chadian refugees in the South Darfur region of the Sudan. HP Pavilion DV9391EU Battery
The UN's WFP body estimated that 2,500,000 were at risk of a famine breaking out in their part of Niger.[134]
On 13 July, the USAID funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), and the UN warned of a food supply shortage in northern Sudan, HP Pavilion DV9391XX Battery
with increasing food insecurity focused on the war torn Darfur region and other neighboring areas.[135] The deteriorating security situation in the conflict zone was predicted to reduce both productivity and peoples' access to local agricultural well, as well as disrupting the seasonal livestock migration. USAID/OFDA provided $133,200,000 to the U.N. HP Pavilion DV9392EA Battery
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to help remedy the crisis in the three Darfur states.[135] Concerns were also raised about the situation in Chad,[135] as well as those in parts of Eritrea andEthiopia.[135]
Three years of famine and then the recent sandstorms devastated Niger on 14 July. HP Pavilion DV9392XX Battery
Diarrhoea, starvation, gastroenteritis, malnutrition and respiratory diseaseskill and sicken many children. The new military junta appealed for international food aid and has taken serious steps to call overseas help since coming to office in February 2010.[136] Sudan witnessed minor food rioting in Southern Kordofan, HP Pavilion DV9393EA Battery
Blue Nile, and Abyei as profiteering local and merchants and Ugandanexporters took advantage of the shortages in order to heavily mark up their selling prices.[137]
15 July saw more border conflicts between the Nuer and the Dinka, further hindering aid workers in Southern Sudan.[138]
HP Pavilion DV9393XX Battery
On 17 July, Mohamed Béavogui, the Director of Western and Central Africa Division of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), called for more international help for the people of the Sahel, who had a 410,000 tons of cereals and 20,000 tons of fodder deficit. HP Pavilion DV9396EA Battery
He also condemned the world for not doing enough to help the Sahel, but stopped short of Cheminade's idea of pumping water from the Zaire River into Lake Chad to reinvigorate its water supply and stop any further shrinkage.
On 24 July, the British Red Cross flew its logistics teams Bristol International Airport to Niger to help the army and local officials with transportation. HP Pavilion DV9396XX Battery
The relief effort has already been made possible by the response to the Red Cross's West Africa Crisis Appeal, which aims to raise £500,000. According to UN agencies, 200,000 children need treatment for malnutrition in Niger alone, as Oxfam put out an £7,000,000 appeal to cover both Chad and Niger. HP Pavilion DV9397EA Battery
France sent unspecified food and cash aid to Mali on 25 July.[77]
On 26 July the heat reached near record levels over Chad and Niger,[141] and about 20 had reportedly died in northern Niger of dehydration on 27 July.
27 July also saw a critical situation occurring in northern Mali and Chad. HP Pavilion DV9397XX Battery
About 8,000,0000 Nigerians, 1,600,000 Chadians and 500,000 Malians were on the verge of a major food shortage as the Nigerian journalist Tidiane Kassé said that by tackling the consequences rather than the causes would be a better form of long-term help for the region.[142] HP Pavilion DV9398EA Battery
On 31 July, leading economists predicted that food prices, especially wheat, would rise in Chad as Russia ends exports due to a domestic drought destroying their wheat and barley harvests.
August
On 1 August, Gadabeji, Niger suffered 35 °C heat and drought.[143] HP Pavilion DV9398EU Battery
On 1 August, just under 12,000,000 people in Niger (approximately 80% of the nation's entire population) faced a food supply crisis and possibly even famine conditions.[143] The Tillabéri region is 30 km from the capital, Niamey, on the road to theSaharan town of Timbuktu.[143] HP Pavilion DV9399EA Battery
Unusually severe rainfall destroyed and then rotted the farmers' crops.[143] Basic food stuffs like maize, millet and sorghum were running out in West Africa's Sahel. Both Chad and northern Nigeria have a similar, but less severe problem.
On 3 August, Burkina Faso was hit by a drought, as 4,500,000 Burkinans and 6,700,000 Nigerians faced starvation. HP Pavilion DV9399XX Battery
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the SudaneseNuer-Dinka war was hampering relief efforts and damaging agricultural output in parts of South Sudan.[138]
10 August saw a Aljazeera reporter say that 7,500,000 Nigerians were at risk of famine and 15,000,000 could face a famine across the Sahel.[145] HP Pavilion DV9400 Battery
An estimated 8,000,000 people faced famine conditions in Niger on 11 August. Senegal and Gambia sent food aid to the Niger.[146]
On 12 August, Gianluca Ferrera, deputy director for the UN’s World Food Programme in the Niger, said malnutrition and crop failures were at a record levels in 2010. HP Pavilion DV9408CA Battery
Food shortages are affecting 12,000,000 people and 400,000 children face starvation. Food prices rose by about 300% since the crisis began and thus hardly any one can afford to buy the remaining food.[147]
14 August saw protests across Sénégal over concerns relating to the ruling party’s poor governance in the face of resent floods, HP Pavilion DV9408NR Battery
storms and power cuts across the country, along with the current heavy drought in Senegal's Sahel region.[148]
15 August had aid workers and their organizations warn of an imminent nationwide famine in Niger.[149] HP Pavilion DV9410CA Battery
On 20 August, floods which were the worst for 80 years hit the Shale region. The U.N. warned that Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso, Cameroon and northern Nigeria are also in the grip of the worst regional food crisis since 2006. In the savannah Kano, Nigeria, over 2,000 families were displaced by floods and in the nearbyJigawa region, HP Pavilion DV9410US Battery
an entire village was evacuated due to heavy flooding. A Mauritania, a was swept in a flood that have damaged bridges and many homes in the mountain town of Aioun. Heavy flooding was occurring around parts of lake Chad.[65]
Most international aid agencies withdraw workers due to the regional kidnapping crisis. HP Pavilion DV9413CL Battery
Niger's government spokesman Mahamane Lawali Danda told the BBC that the pullout came as a surprise since no one had told his government Niger was on the list of dangerous 'kidnapper infested' pariah states, along with Chad, Darfurand Sudan. HP Pavilion DV9413XX Battery
Mauritania and Mali were not on the list of dangerous nations, despite several al-Qaeda lead kidnappings during 2009.[65]
The U.N. warned of mass starvation in Niger and Chad and Oxfam said people in the region were surviving on leaves and berries picked in the wild. 8,000,000 were said to be near starvation by both organisation.[65] HP Pavilion DV9417CA Battery
The UN estimated that up to 7,800,000 Nigeriens were affected by heavy food shortages. Cafod set up a £100,000 aid programme on 21 August.[150]
25 August had a French aid worker kidnapped in Chad.[62] HP Pavilion DV9417CL Battery
The kidnapping of foreigners along the Chad–Darfur border became more frequent in 2009. A French NGO worker was taken and then murdered on 29 October 2009,[63] and an unidentified Red Cross worker was captured on 10 November 2009.[64] Many NGOs and charities had started to restrict the areas covered by their aid work in Niger, HP Pavilion DV9418CA Battery
Chad and Sudan, due to the ever-present risk of bandits and kidnapers.
On 28 August, charities and NGOs put out food shortage alerts for Niger.[151] Heavy rain falls on the border of the CAR and the Chad.
31 August saw 7,900,000 of Nigeria's 15,300,000 people in immediate risk of starvation HP Pavilion DV9418US Battery
and Gordon Brown MP making plans for a $100,000 charity speech on the development of irrigation and water schemes to increase cultivable land the Niger and the Chad.[152] He was quoted to have said in the interview that:
"But, today, where there is suffering without hope, we can prevent children dying painful, avoidable deaths".[152] "HP Pavilion DV9420CA Battery
On 31 August Sudan's army reported that 3 Russian helicopter crew members had been abducted by gunmen in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, just hours afterSamaritan's Purse aid worker Flavia Wagner who had been kidnapped 18 May was set free[74][74].. HP Pavilion DV9420US Battery
She was taken from the South Darfurian village of Abu Ajura, along with two Sudanese colleagues who were also freed after a week.[74][74] The governor of South Darfur, Abdel Hamid Kasha, Sudan foreign ministry spokesmanMoawiya Osman and Samaritan's Purse’s leader Franklin Graham, HP Pavilion DV9424US Battery
and the Russian ambassador to Chad welcomed Flavia’s release, but condemned the kidnap of the three Russians and that of two Jordanian UNAMID police advisers in Darfur, on the 14th.[74] Another Russian helicopter pilot was taken prisoner for four days after landing in South Darfur to take rebels' spokesmen to Chad for alleged peace talks.[74] HP Pavilion DV9424XX Battery
September
On 1 September, aid agencies and NGOs called for aid to be given to Niger as 7,000,000 faced starvation.[153]
4 September had Cholera outbreaks kill 41 in Chad and one in Nigeria.[154] HP Pavilion DV9428CA Battery
8 September saw a Chinese CGC Overseas Construction Co. Ltd. oil worker kidnapped in Bahai inside Chad and took him to Sharq al-Teyna, in Sudan’s Darfurregion.
On 13 September the Prem Rawat Foundation gave $30,000 loan to pay for Niger to buy food aid for children of its nomadic tribal groups.[155] HP Pavilion DV9428NR Battery
On 14 September heavy rainfall in central and southern Chad raised hopes that the major drought in Africa's Sahel region would be over by early 2011.[156][157]10,000,000 were near to starvation in the Sahel. The UN’s WFP had estimated that Chad needs about 100,000 metric tonnes of food aid, but had only received 70,000 metric tonnes so far. HP Pavilion DV9429US Battery
Most of the Chadian need to sell more cereal crops to make enough money to repay their huge debts. farmers According to Jean Francois Caremel of the Action Against Hunger charity branch in Chad.As both Chad and Niger faced an improving situation due to heavy rain fall over these countries, HP Pavilion DV9429XX Battery
but a major famine was still unfolding in other countries of West Africa's dry Sahelian region15 September had Sudanese and Chadian forces jointly searching for both the Chinese oil industry engineer taken on the 8th and a Chinese aid worker who was kidnapped from the same town on the morning of the 15th. HP Pavilion DV9438CA Battery
Both the Chinese ambassidor to Chad, the Chadian government and the Solidarity Action for Peace and Development NGO condemned the kidnappings. The Chinese hostage was released in the Dafur on the 17th.[85]
18 and 19 September In Hadejia, Nigeria, The flood victims sleep wherever they can, HP Pavilion DV9438XX Battery
the men search for dry spots on the roads while women and children keep piling into their houses still standing as huge number of displaced people have returned to flood-hit villages in Northern Nigeria. Over two million people were affected by the flood waters and more than 50,000 families are still wandering homeless. HP Pavilion DV9443CA Battery
Residential areas of the Kararar Rima village was also destroyed in the flood. Most of the houses were made of clay, so they easy dissolved in the flood water.[2] As the rains fell the end of the pending famine looked close. HP Pavilion DV9443XX Battery,HP Pavilion DV9500 Battery,HP Pavilion DV9500EA Battery
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