Young people with their bikes on a square in Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso “Land of the Upright”

The military coup of 30 September was the second coup that took place in Burkina Faso within eight months. Ever since the first military coup early this year, we have been continuing to provide support to the population, especially in the area of food security, through measures which have no links to the government, and which benefit the population directly. Apart from that, Germany’s future development cooperation with Burkina Faso is under review and will depend on how the political situation develops. This page will be updated in the near future.

A woman with children at a water point in Burkina Faso — Straight to

Burkina Faso in West Africa is characterised by great tolerance in ethnic and religious matters, with more than 60 ethnic groups co-existing largely peacefully there. This is also reflected in the country's name: in translation, the terms “Burkina” and “Faso”, which are taken from the two most widely spoken languages in the country, mean “Land of the Upright”.

Since the early 1990s, Burkina Faso has been gradually embracing more democracy. However, the country has experienced a significant deterioration in the security situation, which, for some time now, has been hampering political, economic and social development. In many parts of the country, particularly in the north and east, Islamist groups have repeatedly launched terrorist attacks, which are threatening to weaken political stability and peaceful coexistence in society.

Another major challenge facing Burkina Faso is the high level of population growth. The population growth rate is making it difficult for policymakers to reduce poverty, create sufficient jobs, establish food security and give all people access to drinking water, energy, health care services and education facilities.

German development cooperation with Burkina Faso

Germany is Burkina Faso's second largest bilateral donor, after France, and an important partner.

At the government negotiations between the two countries in September 2020, Germany committed funds amounting to 71.45 million euros to Burkina Faso. Of that amount, 21.7 million euros was earmarked for projects under the ONE WORLD – No Hunger initiative.

Development cooperation between Germany and Burkina Faso focuses on the following three core areas:

Transformation of agri-food systems
Areas of intervention: agriculture and rural development
Peaceful and inclusive societies
Areas of intervention: good governance and conflict prevention
Conserving nature and natural resources, protecting life on Earth
Area of intervention: water

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) also supports respect for children's and young people's rights in Burkina Faso. The aim is to protect socially disadvantaged children and young people against the worst forms of child labour, child trafficking and gender-based violence. The setting up of school networks, community-based social services and education and training programmes are to help improve their future prospects. Furthermore, sexuality education programmes are to help reduce the number of unwanted early pregnancies.

Finally, the BMZ is making available to Burkina Faso's finance ministry advisory support on à good financial governance, the aim of which is to make budgetary processes and public control of the budget more professional and transparent.

Transitional development assistance

Burkina Faso is a transitional development assistance focus country. Together with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the BMZ developed the initiative for resilience in the Sahel to bring about sustained improvements in the food and income situations of people in Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Chad. The support ranges from providing food for school meals to rehabilitating agricultural land.

Market scene in Burkina Faso: sale of tomatoes

Agriculture has a key role to play in providing food security and reducing poverty in Burkina Faso. In order to improve the food supply situation and to raise income and employment levels in rural areas, the BMZ supports the development of selected agricultural value chains.

A woman working on a laptop in Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, local authorities play an important role in promoting social cohesion – particularly given the conflicts in the country. The BMZ is helping local authorities to carry out the tasks for which they are responsible.

Training for plumbers in the vocational training centre of the national water agency in Burkina Faso

Water supply and sanitation infrastructure in Burkina Faso has been considerably improved over the last few years. Nevertheless, millions of people there still have no access to clean drinking water or adequate sanitation facilities.