Attachments
Executive summary
The evaluation of the country strategic plan for Burkina Faso covers the period from 2018 to mid-2022. It assesses WFP’s strategic positioning, its contribution to strategic outcomes, efficiency in implementation and the factors explaining performance.
Burkina Faso is a low-income country home to 22.1 million people. In recent years, the country has suffered significant political upheaval including several military coups and has been caught up in an escalating wave of violence and insecurity that has led to the displacement of almost 2 million people. Burkina Faso is also highly affected by food insecurity and acute malnutrition.
The country strategic plan was initially focused on resilience building and country capacity strengthening but was adapted through seven budget revisions in response to the multiple shocks faced by the country; the changes included the addition of an emergency component, which gradually became the main focus. While both the transitional interim country strategic plan and the country strategic plan were initially aligned with national priorities, as the situation in the country deteriorated, programme modifications did not involve sufficient consultation with national partners.
After initial supply chain and human resource mobilization challenges, WFP was able to scale up its response adequately to meet needs. Beneficiary needs were identified through surveys and analyses, and WFP adapted its targeting criteria according to the priorities under each strategic outcome. However, the targeting of internally displaced persons remained subject to external Summary report on the evaluation of the country strategic plan for Burkina Faso (2019–2023)
constraints. Although WFP made efforts to deliver timely assistance, performance varied by activity.
The transformative potential of WFP’s activities in terms of gender, age and inclusion remains limited. Actions promoting gender sensitivity were not accompanied by a gender action plan nor supported by analyses of gender-specific needs. WFP made considerable effort to improve its accountability to affected populations such as by establishing feedback mechanisms; however, further improvements are needed to keep beneficiaries properly informed.
The country office used appropriate strategies to operationalize the humanitarian-peace- development nexus, yet the effectiveness of these approaches and of conflict sensitivity elements is still to be demonstrated. Several interventions have the potential to be sustainable but have been negatively impacted by the deteriorating security situation.
The country strategic plan was well funded thanks to strong resource mobilization efforts. Despite relatively little flexibility in allocated contributions, the available resources were sufficiently diverse to allow a balanced implementation. WFP was recognized for its capacity to respond to emergencies, contribute to common services, facilitate humanitarian access and build partner capacities.
Overall, the evaluation found that the country strategic plan provided flexibility and allowed WFP to adjust to emergency conditions. From 2021, WFP became a major emergency response player, responding at scale and supporting the humanitarian community. However, strategic shifts were not adequately discussed with national partners. Resilience programming encountered setbacks, raising questions regarding its validity within the new operating environment, and WFP ambitions for accountability to affected populations, protection and gender mainstreaming require further investment for results.
The evaluation produced six recommendations: continue to invest in emergency preparedness; foster further development of WFP’s triple nexus approach; improve partnerships; continue work on accountability to affected populations; ensure evidence-based decision-making; and invest in human resources to facilitate the scale-up of operations.