Burkina Faso after Live Aid

Burkina Faso, the world's third poorest country, as rated by the UN, is located in Western Africa. Burkina Faso is prone to recurrent natural disasters such as drought, floods and locust invasions, which have grown increasingly frequent and severe. High poverty levels, combined with the fact that Burkina Faso is landlocked, make the country's population particularly vulnerable to economic shocks such as high food prices, which limit vulnerable people’s access to food. The country has also suffered the negative, and unstable, effects of military coups.

Burkina Faso's economy is largely dependent on the primary sector, including cotton and gold, which contributes to a third of GDP.  High annual population growth also makes it difficult for economic development and poverty reduction policies to achieve results. The recent instability of its neighbouring countries, Mali and Côte d'Ivoire, has resulted in the fleeing of many of their citizens to Burkina Faso, generating additional challenges for food security.

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Time Line

• 1977 Constitutional reforms bring in multi-party democracy.

• 1983 Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo ousted by military coup. Capt Thomas Sankara seizes power and adopts radical left-wing policies.

• 1984 Upper Volta renamed Burkina Faso.

• 1987 Thomas Sankara ousted and killed in a coup led by his close aide, Blaise Compaore, who goes on to re-introduce a multi-party system

• 1991 Blaise Compaoré elected president of Burkino Faso without opposition.

• 1996 Meningitis outbreak kills 4,000 people.
  

• 1997 Burkino Faso suffers severe drought. SOS Children's Village Ouagadougou opens.
  

• 1998 Blaise Compaoré re-elected president by landslide.

• 1999 State-owned mining company Soremib announces the closure of the country's biggest gold mine.

• 2004 SOS Children open a second village; Children's Village Dafra.
  

• 2005 Blaise Compaoré re-elected for third term.

• 2006 Another Meningitis outbreak kills 630 people. Burkina Faso postpones a regional economic summit after deadly gun battles between police and soldiers in the capital.

• 2009 Heavy rain hits Burkina Faso, resulting in the destruction of many houses and transport links around the capital, Ouagadougou, and its surroundings. SOS Children launch an Emergency Relief Programme in the Nongr-Maason area, in order to support to all victims of the flood.
  

• 2010 Blaise Compaoré re-elected for fourth term.

• 2011 The country enters into a period of intense unrest fuelled by student discontent, frustration with the cost of living and disputes between the military and the civilian authorities. All SOS Children programmes remain unaffected. 

• 2013 According to a recent Human Development Index Report, Burkina Faso is languishing at 183rd out of 187 countries. The infant mortality rate is also not good, with 78.3 deaths recorded per every 1,000 live births, placing Burkina Faso just 9th in the world.