The so called natural disasters such as droughts and inundations are very often  the results of anthropic causes : Agricultural droughts, for example, can be favoured by ecological degradations, and inundations by bulding defects. So the distinction between the natural catastrophe and the man-made one is artificial in so far as it is often a combination of the two that leads to the catastrophe.

Burkina Faso is a country which is vulnerable to disasters for the following reasons : a rainfull which is very irregular in space as well as in time, a high population rate, an economy which is based essentially on a poorly modernized agriculture, with a production dependant upon the climatic contingences, poorly developed educational and health systems.

The main catastrophes that often hit Burkina Faso are droughts, inundations, infestations, epidemics and bush fires. They generaly cause important losses of lives, as well as material and financial losses. Thus showing down the socio-economic development of a country ranking among the poorest in the world.

The last thirty years were marked by a series of food crisis periods : major crises which culminated in 1972/73 and 1983/84, and lesser ones (1990/91, 1995/96 and 1997/98).

To prevent and handle such crisis, the government and the development partners have put in place short and long term programmes for the surveillance of the food situation, and the mibilization of emergency aids, ... structures (SONAGES, CONASUR, PS/CPC, CO) concertation bodies (CRSPC, CPG) and a financing instrument (FODEC).

Both experience and analysis have proved that no matter what measures are taken, the strategy for the prevention and management of the food crisis remain insufficient for reducing their impact on the most affected populations.

The chronic food insecurity areas that are most exposed to transitory crisis are located in the central, Sahel and easter regions. These regions are singles out by their particularity high poverty index.

The food security section of the emergency Plan is intended for launching interventions in situations of transitory food insecurity. It must help avoid all severe degradation of the eating habits and the nutritional conditions of the populations, as well as the decapitalization processes of the means of population that could stop the farmers from getting back to normal situation where they themselves can provide for the satisfaction of their needs.

The Plan is based on the following principles:

The launching of intervention scenarios for solving the crises is based on the assessment of thenational as well aq provincial food situation, which makes it possible to fix a food insecurity line. The qualitative follow up of tge agricultural campaign, the quantitative resukts of the main productions. The accessibility to grain provisions, the risk of food crisis in the departements, constitute the information needed for fixing these lines.

These informations are gathered and analysed at different period of the year. They must be used diversely according to their representatively at the different geographic scales, and according to their forbording character as to the degradation of resources.

The Plan proposes a methodology for appreciating the food insecurity lines defining :

The determination of the lines is contingent upon the results of the permanent agricultural survey and will therefore be carried out in November and February each year. In case of a severe national deficit, an earlier emergency warning is necessary for mobilizing the aids needed. The regular follow up of the agricultural campaign by the qualified structures at national and provincial levels will made it possible to take the secessary steps in the required time limits.

Basing itself on the different examples of insecurity lines at provincial and national levels, the Plan proposes 5scenarios that make provision for different types of action, interveners, and funds to be mobilized chart 1 makes  a synthesis of actions to be carried out according to the scenarios.