Cote d'Ivoire — humanitarian situation

Northern Côte d'Ivoire faces sustained food insecurity driven by an ongoing refugee influx, cross-border instability, and seasonal pressures. Between June 2026 and January 2027, an estimated 500,000 to 749,999 people require humanitarian food assistance to meet essential needs and protect livelihoods, with the highest concentrations in the north and northeast during the June-August lean season FEWS NET. The continued arrival of more than 80,000 Burkinabè and Malian refugees—primarily in Bounkani, Tchologo, and Poro regions—is straining local capacities, increasing demand for basic services, heightening pressure on natural resources, and intensifying competition between refugees and host communities for income opportunities through daily labor FEWS NET. Persistent cross-border insecurity compounds these demographic shifts and constrains household coping strategies. Areas hosting refugees are experiencing Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes, with affected households dispersed across both formal reception sites and host communities FEWS NET. Food access is further limited by elevated staple prices and disrupted market functioning linked to insecurity along northern borders. Meanwhile, isolated above-average rainfall along coastal areas, including Côte d'Ivoire, has triggered severe localized flooding FEWS NET. The IFRC has allocated CHF 207,968 through the Disaster Response Emergency Fund for anticipatory actions to mitigate river flooding impacts, including CHF 107,481 for prepositioning stocks and annual preparedness activities under a simplified early action protocol IFRC. The humanitarian response remains focused on food security needs in refugee-hosting areas, though access constraints related to border insecurity persist. The crisis reflects broader regional dynamics affecting the Sahel, where conflict-driven displacement continues to generate cross-border movements into relatively stable northern Ivorian communities. No large-scale escalation in displacement has been reported beyond the sustained refugee presence already documented, but the combination of seasonal food gaps, refugee pressures, and climatic stresses maintains elevated humanitarian needs through early 2027.