Effect of household resilience on food security in Burkina Faso

Household resilience capacity namely anticipation, adaptation, and absorption plays a crucial role in determining food security in Burkina Faso, a country facing high climatic and socio-economic vulnerabilities. This study is grounded in Sen’s capability approach, which emphasizes households’ real freedom to convert available resources into effective resilience strategies as a key determinant of food well-being. The main objective is to analyze the effect of household resilience capacity on food security outcomes. The analysis uses data from 6,940 household heads drawn from the 2021 Household Living Conditions Survey (HLCS) conducted in Burkina Faso. An ordered multinomial logit model is employed to assess the relationship between resilience dimensions and food security levels. The results indicate that access to climate information, credit, farmer organizations, markets, and improved seeds significantly enhances households’ ability to cope with shocks. The findings further reveal that the three pillars of resilience are complementary and must be strengthened simultaneously. Conversely, low rainfall, insecurity, and structural poverty continue to exacerbate food insecurity despite existing public policies. Strengthening resilience strategies such as income diversification, improved agricultural practices, and savings is therefore essential to achieving sustainable food security in rural Burkina Faso.