← Drought indicators vs impact

Burkina Faso: which indicators track drought impact?

bfa-drought 2026-04-17 (endorsed): SEAS5 April + ASAP level 3 over 4 provinces. Main season used here: Jul–Sep (main rainy season). Production target: Millet, Sorghum (FAOSTAT, national, % from 2001–2024 trend).

Framework area

Indicatorr with productionR²Leave-one-out R²pAUC, impact seasonsAUC, CERF-datedAUC, EM-DATAUC, framework bad years
Temperature-0.520.27+0.180.0090.750.770.760.67
Biomass (zFPARc)+0.190.03-0.100.3860.620.640.680.75
FAO ASI-0.310.09-3.100.1450.630.660.650.73
FAO mean VHI+0.460.21+0.070.0240.590.770.570.64
Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)+0.270.07-0.080.2040.630.610.570.47
Rainfall (ERA5)+0.390.15+0.010.0580.730.640.820.66
SPI-3+0.290.09-0.040.1620.480.500.470.51
Water balance+0.320.10-0.030.1290.560.390.620.49
CombinationR²Leave-one-out R²Coefficients (z per sd)
Temperature + Biomass (zFPARc)0.28+0.11-6.03 (p 0.014), -1.12 (p 0.625)
Temperature + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.28+0.11-6.60 (p 0.021), -1.67 (p 0.534)
Temperature + FAO ASI0.27-1.31-5.27 (p 0.034), -0.36 (p 0.879)
Biomass (zFPARc) + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.09-0.11+1.54 (p 0.493), +2.58 (p 0.257)
Temperature + Biomass (zFPARc) + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.30+0.04-7.86 (p 0.024), -1.69 (p 0.485), -2.26 (p 0.429)
Temperature + FAO mean VHI0.30+0.15-4.04 (p 0.125), +2.18 (p 0.398)

Hot vs cool, low vs high biomass (median splits)

QuadrantSeasonsMean production anomalyImpact-season rateSeasons
hot / low biomass8-4.4%25%2002, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2019
hot / high biomass4-11.4%50%2001, 2017, 2021, 2023
cool / low biomass4+6.0%0%2010, 2015, 2018, 2020
cool / high biomass8+7.1%12%2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2013, 2022, 2024

Impact seasons (5): 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021.

National mean of ASAP units

Indicatorr with productionR²Leave-one-out R²pAUC, impact seasonsAUC, CERF-datedAUC, EM-DATAUC, framework bad years
Temperature-0.560.32+0.230.0040.750.860.710.68
Biomass (zFPARc)+0.150.02-0.150.4920.510.410.620.55
FAO ASI-0.470.22+0.090.0200.600.610.560.62
FAO mean VHI+0.550.31+0.170.0050.610.750.560.58
Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)+0.440.19+0.010.0310.740.950.640.63
Rainfall (ERA5)+0.430.19+0.050.0340.740.750.790.63
SPI-3+0.420.18+0.040.0390.670.910.570.61
Water balance+0.170.03-0.230.4180.420.230.510.20
CombinationR²Leave-one-out R²Coefficients (z per sd)
Temperature + Biomass (zFPARc)0.32+0.15-5.97 (p 0.006), -0.18 (p 0.928)
Temperature + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.35+0.14-4.83 (p 0.037), +2.11 (p 0.342)
Temperature + FAO ASI0.40+0.21-4.72 (p 0.023), -3.14 (p 0.118)
Biomass (zFPARc) + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.24-0.06+2.20 (p 0.289), +4.91 (p 0.024)
Temperature + Biomass (zFPARc) + Rainfall (CHIRPS/ASAP)0.35+0.05-4.56 (p 0.076), +0.53 (p 0.803), +2.31 (p 0.339)
Temperature + FAO mean VHI0.44+0.28-4.21 (p 0.037), +4.03 (p 0.045)

Hot vs cool, low vs high biomass (median splits)

QuadrantSeasonsMean production anomalyImpact-season rateSeasons
hot / low biomass6-5.7%33%2002, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019
hot / high biomass6-8.0%33%2004, 2005, 2016, 2017, 2021, 2023
cool / low biomass6+4.5%17%2006, 2007, 2013, 2018, 2020, 2024
cool / high biomass6+9.2%0%2001, 2003, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2022

Impact seasons (5): 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019, 2021.

How impact records were dated to seasons

RecordPeriodSeasonRule
CERF 2006 Underfunded Emergencies $2.0M (undated)2006-01-01 → 2005undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2007 Underfunded Emergencies $0.9M (undated)2007-01-01 → 2006undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2008 Underfunded Emergencies $3.4M (undated)2008-01-01 → 2007undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2008 Rapid Response $2.0M (undated)2008-01-01 → 2007undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2009 Underfunded Emergencies $2.0M (undated)2009-01-01 → 2008undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2012 Rapid Response $9.2M2011-06-01 → 2011-09-282011overlap
CERF 2014 Underfunded Emergencies $3.9M (undated)2014-01-01 → 2013undated: last-season-before-impact
CERF 2018 Rapid Response $9.0M2017-06-01 → 2017-09-282017overlap
EM-DAT 2001-9044-BFA (n/a affected)2001-04-01 → 2001-12-282000last-season-before-impact
EM-DAT 2011-9524-BFA (2850000 affected)2011-12-01 → 2012-12-282011last-season-before-impact
EM-DAT 2014-9196-BFA (4000000 affected)2014-05-01 → 2014-12-282013last-season-before-impact
EM-DAT 2020-9235-BFA (2900000 affected)2020-01-01 → 2020-06-282019last-season-before-impact
EM-DAT 2022-9781-BFA (3500928 affected)2022-01-01 → 2022-11-282021last-season-before-impact

Season table

t_JAS_aoi t_dt_JAS_aoi rain_JAS_aoi wsi_JAS_aoi spi_JAS_aoi z_JAS_aoi z_dt_JAS_aoi t_JAS_nat t_dt_JAS_nat rain_JAS_nat wsi_JAS_nat spi_JAS_nat z_JAS_nat z_dt_JAS_nat era5_nat era5_aoi asi_nat asi_aoi mvhi_nat mvhi_aoi prod_anom impact impact_cerf impact_emdat impact_plus_undated bad_year
year
2001 28.37 0.07 39.72 93.46 -0.29 -0.09 0.46 26.30 0.02 56.71 97.49 -0.16 0.05 0.03 4.82 3.44 2.76 1.10 0.51 0.55 -7.92 0 0 0 0 0
2002 29.01 0.70 36.42 86.77 -1.02 -1.20 -0.70 26.77 0.47 52.90 95.10 -1.00 -0.77 -0.78 4.10 2.47 29.93 36.38 0.38 0.36 -8.68 0 0 0 0 0
2003 27.79 -0.52 54.24 98.91 1.59 0.49 0.95 26.01 -0.30 68.65 98.39 1.05 0.70 0.69 5.62 3.99 0.25 0.00 0.56 0.60 7.45 0 0 0 0 0
2004 28.66 0.34 34.85 83.29 -1.41 -0.54 -0.13 26.38 0.05 52.80 96.56 -0.78 0.36 0.35 3.81 2.59 17.92 6.34 0.43 0.48 -10.41 0 0 0 0 0
2005 28.32 -0.01 43.77 96.24 0.64 0.82 1.18 26.39 0.04 58.33 97.43 -0.04 0.52 0.51 4.22 3.46 6.86 0.00 0.50 0.59 5.09 0 0 0 1 0
2006 28.44 0.11 38.22 89.66 -0.72 -0.48 -0.16 26.40 0.03 56.84 97.25 -0.56 -0.42 -0.43 4.51 2.93 1.90 0.00 0.51 0.53 2.56 0 0 0 1 0
2007 28.15 -0.20 46.26 95.43 0.36 0.38 0.66 26.29 -0.09 62.67 94.95 0.19 -0.12 -0.13 4.60 3.38 23.51 2.28 0.42 0.54 -6.01 0 0 0 1 0
2008 28.35 0.00 38.98 90.05 -0.03 0.29 0.52 26.29 -0.11 64.62 94.70 0.54 0.14 0.14 4.49 2.75 0.70 0.34 0.56 0.60 18.61 0 0 0 1 0
2009 28.83 0.47 43.18 88.96 -0.04 -0.68 -0.50 26.72 0.30 64.98 96.54 0.38 0.03 0.03 4.60 2.76 2.62 5.08 0.52 0.55 -5.83 0 0 0 0 0
2010 28.24 -0.13 44.44 95.72 -0.11 -0.48 -0.34 26.47 0.03 66.26 98.69 0.41 0.25 0.24 5.83 4.20 0.51 0.00 0.61 0.62 18.22 0 0 0 0 0
2011 28.89 0.52 45.10 94.72 0.15 -0.54 -0.45 26.85 0.40 55.62 97.90 -0.27 -0.15 -0.15 3.63 2.15 4.78 3.64 0.49 0.51 -12.31 1 1 1 1 1
2012 27.78 -0.60 56.96 99.10 1.73 0.33 0.38 26.14 -0.33 71.09 99.14 1.16 0.27 0.27 5.60 4.61 0.89 0.10 0.54 0.64 12.45 0 0 0 0 0
2013 28.36 -0.03 42.84 94.39 0.10 0.16 0.16 26.40 -0.08 59.23 96.09 -0.23 0.03 0.03 4.28 2.81 3.34 0.09 0.52 0.64 10.52 1 0 1 1 0
2014 28.72 0.33 43.81 92.50 -0.32 -0.36 -0.41 26.67 0.17 60.25 97.68 -0.15 -0.09 -0.09 4.14 2.61 13.12 4.27 0.45 0.52 -0.19 0 0 0 0 1
2015 28.25 -0.15 54.23 98.06 1.37 -0.11 -0.20 26.63 0.11 75.79 95.37 0.98 -0.81 -0.81 5.70 4.14 10.22 0.38 0.48 0.63 -11.55 0 0 0 0 0
2016 28.49 0.08 47.30 94.71 0.61 -0.20 -0.34 26.63 0.10 68.89 98.23 0.97 0.22 0.22 4.74 3.29 2.18 0.39 0.55 0.60 -4.87 0 0 0 0 0
2017 28.51 0.09 41.70 95.78 0.13 0.35 0.17 26.76 0.21 49.99 98.42 -0.79 0.46 0.47 4.63 3.50 8.38 1.16 0.49 0.58 -18.98 1 1 0 1 1
2018 28.32 -0.11 50.27 98.47 0.70 0.13 -0.09 26.55 -0.02 69.24 97.74 0.57 -0.27 -0.26 5.37 3.78 8.99 1.40 0.51 0.64 14.84 0 0 0 0 0
2019 28.85 0.42 46.20 94.42 0.64 -0.31 -0.59 26.81 0.22 66.25 98.18 0.64 -0.26 -0.26 4.70 3.28 4.06 1.99 0.54 0.59 4.35 1 0 1 1 1
2020 28.24 -0.20 61.41 96.87 1.77 0.13 -0.18 26.41 -0.20 72.53 98.02 0.92 -0.33 -0.33 6.16 4.32 6.63 0.93 0.53 0.64 2.40 0 0 0 0 0
2021 28.92 0.47 42.71 91.37 -0.03 0.66 0.29 26.76 0.13 64.07 97.10 0.52 0.16 0.16 4.14 2.03 10.92 5.39 0.49 0.55 -14.23 1 0 1 1 0
2022 28.28 -0.18 49.22 95.70 0.50 0.39 -0.02 26.24 -0.40 70.43 98.59 0.84 0.08 0.09 5.51 2.89 3.68 2.33 0.55 0.64 6.37 0 0 0 0 1
2023 29.07 0.61 43.07 92.95 -0.03 0.94 0.48 27.11 0.44 61.75 96.82 0.21 0.24 0.25 4.49 2.48 7.54 3.11 0.53 0.62 -4.40 0 0 0 0 0
2024 28.11 -0.36 53.63 97.78 1.11 1.21 0.71 26.57 -0.11 67.20 96.74 0.40 -0.08 -0.07 5.98 4.53 1.25 0.06 0.65 0.78 2.51 0 0 0 0 0
2025 27.95 -0.53 54.42 97.75 0.96 1.54 0.99 26.13 -0.56 69.24 98.42 0.48 0.48 0.49 4.82 2.98 5.62 0.66 0.56 0.71 NaN 0 0 0 0 0