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This joint anthropological study is about security and safety chal­lenges seen and experienced from below, notably the perceptions and perspectives of Burkinabe citizens. Eight researchers document and make a qualitative analysis of security at the local level, in 13 municipalities across the country. Two points of departure guided this work: firstly, the importance of integrating citizens’ perceptions of security and insecurity in a global analysis of security and safety challenges; and secondly, the security from below approach conceives of military and police security as one perspective among several others. 

The study forms part of a series of anthropological team research publications that seek to describe, analyse and put into perspective how daily realities are “seen and lived” by local actors and the general public, or simply “ordinary citizens”, as well as relevant social and political actors on the local level. A large part of this English version is a translation of the French version published in 2019, with some important exceptions: the concluding chapter integrates the more recent developments in terms of insecurity and political turbulence of Burkina Faso; and an epilogue co-authored by Sten Hagberg and Ludovic Kibora sheds further light on security from below in 2023.