Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; ) is a landlocked country in West Africa. It covers an area of around and is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north; Niger to the east; Benin to the southeast; Togo and Ghana to the south; and Ivory Coast to the southwest. The July 2018 population estimate by the United Nations was 19,751,651. Burkina Faso is a francophone country, with French as the official language of government and business. Roughly 40% of the population speaks the Mossi language. Formerly called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), the country was renamed "Burkina Faso" on 4 August 1984 by then-President Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as "Burkinabé" ( ). Its capital is Ouagadougou.
Burkina Faso
Poverty continues to be strongly linked to food insecurity. As one of the poorest countries in the world, Burkina Faso has around 43.7% of its population living under the poverty line and ranked 185 out of 188 countries on the UNDP Human Development Index in 2015. The Human Development Index is a measure of quality of life, taking into account three main areas of human development: longevity, education, and economic standard of living. These high levels of poverty found in Burkina Faso, combined with the soaring food prices of the global food crisis continue to contribute to Burkina Faso's issue of food insecurity. The global food crisis of 2007–2008 was a drastic surge in food prices that lead to high rates of hunger, malnutrition, and political and economic instability in nations across the globe. This strongly affected Burkina Faso because around 80% of Burkina's population is rural, relying on subsistence farming to make a living. For instance, when natural disasters such as floods, droughts, or locust attacks occur and cause crops to fail, farmers in Burkina Faso become dependent on grain purchases. Because of the global food crisis, local grain prices dramatically increased, limiting farmers' access to grain through market exchanges.