Floods severely affect communities in Bogande, Burkina Faso

On 3 September 2015, torrential downpours on Bogandé caused serious flooding, destroying the dam located in the town centre. Bogandé is the main town in Gnagna province, eastern Burkina Faso, and has about 100,000 inhabitants. Floods occur frequently during the rainy season in this region, crossed by the tributaries of the Niger River.

Extreme weather events such as floods and droughts linked to climate change have multiplied in the last few decades. These climate shocks continue to threaten a population whose food and nutritional security is already very precarious.

Too many people affected

As a result of these floods, rural communities have seen their homes destroyed, their livestock disappear and their crops and fields damaged. The damage has left as many as 500 people in a state of extreme vulnerability.

In addition, the 300 farmers living on the irrigated perimeter located downstream of the dam have seen their entire agricultural plots affected, jeopardising their rice harvest for 2015. Water required for irrigation is no longer available.

Part of the rain-fed crops (maize, sorghum, groundnuts, cowpeas) located downstream, have also been destroyed.

Serious consequences for food security and the socioeconomic situation

The dam of Bogandé is vital to the town and its surroundings. Its many uses include: irrigation of rice and vegetable crops which are produced in the dry season, livelihood of livestock, the manufacture of bricks for the construction of houses, fishing, laundry, etc. The dam also allows the reuse of groundwater that feeds the wells and boreholes.

The availability of cereals and vegetables will be greatly affected by these losses in this period of harvest.

This situation further undermines the food and nutritional security of populations, in particular women and children.

The households of Gnagna are heavily dependent on the market for their food, as their own production covers only four to six months of consumption during an average year.

Mobilisation of the government and the population

The Burkina Faso Government has made a commitment to reconstruct the dyke, but no specific time limit has yet been fixed and the completion of the work will depend on the availability of national resources. Moreover, it will have to wait until the next rainy season for the dam to fill again.

In the meantime, the people of Bogandé have mobilised to fill a portion of the destroyed dyke with the resources available to them. The Provincial Directorate of Social Affairs and National Solidarity of Gnagna has been able to provide emergency aid. Food, hygiene kits (consisting of buckets, soap and kettles), tents and mosquito nets have been distributed to affected families, but these allocations have not been able to stretch to cover everyone who has been affected by the floods. Vital needs are yet to be fulfilled and the government has called for support from donors and NGOs, launched by the National Council of Emergency Relief and Rehabilitation (CONASUR) for all the flood victims.

What is the response of the BRACED Zaman-Lebidi (Changing World) project to the call of Bogandé?

The NGO Action Against Hunger (ACF) is a key implementing partner for the Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate change Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) programme in three communities in the province of Gnagna, including Bogandé. They carried out an evaluation of the damage related to floods and assessed the needs of the people in the days following the disaster.

Humanitarian assistance will be provided by ACF as part of the BRACED consortium and in coordination with the CONASUR and the Social Affairs Department in order to strengthen the livelihoods and food security of affected households.