Centre-Nord Region

Centre-Nord Region has become one of Burkina Faso's most dangerous territories as jihadist groups expanded control over formerly stable areas. Kaya, the regional capital, remains under government control but is effectively besieged—supply routes threatened, agricultural hinterlands inaccessible, civilians trapped between armed actors. The region exemplifies how security collapse cascades through economic and social systems.

Before the crisis intensified, Centre-Nord's economy combined livestock herding (the Sahel-adjacent areas supported cattle and goats) with rain-fed agriculture in southern zones. Gold mining at Inata and other sites provided extractive income. These activities have largely ceased in contested areas, with farmers unable to cultivate fields threatened by both jihadists and military operations.

Displacement reaches catastrophic proportions. Entire communities have emptied as violence made residence impossible. Those who remain face food insecurity as supply chains break down. The region demonstrates how carrying capacity collapses when security—the prerequisite for all other economic activity—disappears. Recovery, if it comes, will require not just military success but reconstruction of social and economic infrastructure that violence destroyed.