Fighting Disease:  Burkina Faso

Eradicating Guinea Worm Disease

Current status: Transmission stopped, November 2006 (read the announcement)
Certification of Dracunculiasis Eradication: Pending

For the most current Guinea worm case reports, read the Guinea Worm Wrap-Up newsletter >

Dracunculiasis, or Guinea worm disease, is a preventable parasitic infection contracted when a person ingests drinking water from stagnant sources containing copepods (commonly referred to as water fleas) that harbor infective Guinea worm larvae. Inside a person's body, the larvae grow for a year, becoming thin threadlike worms up to 1 meter long. These worms create agonizingly painful blisters in the skin through which they slowly exit the body, preventing the victim from attending school, caring for children, or harvesting crops. Learn more about the historic Carter Center-led campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease>

Since the national program began in 1992, the Carter Center's Guinea Worm Eradication Program worked in conjunction with the government of Burkina Faso and other international organizations to eliminate Guinea worm disease from Burkina Faso. The Burkina Faso program has been a great success. The country reported its last case of Guinea worm disease in Tondia-Kangue village in November 2006. Read full text >

Increasing Food Production

Working hand in hand with the Burkina Faso Ministry of Agriculture, The Carter Center began helping Burkinabe farmers improve agricultural development in 1997. The program in Burkina Faso was part of a larger partnership, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Norman Borlaug until his death in 2009, between the Carter Center's Agriculture Program and the Sasakawa Africa Association. Known as SG 2000, the program helped more than 8 million small-scale sub-Saharan African farmers learn new farming techniques to double or triple grain production.

Burkina Faso is a dry area with erratic rainfall, where the staple food crops are millet, sorghum, and maize. In the past, soil degradation in Burkina Faso led to the abandonment of land. Now, because of population pressure, the recovery of abandoned farming land has become a priority. However, Burkina's climate and lack of rainfall make cultivation of a good harvest difficult. In these rural areas, farming is not only an employment; it also is necessary for survival, as most of a farmer's harvest is food for his or her family. Poor crop yields – first and foremost – mean less to eat. Read full text >