UN agencies provide food, supplies in drought-ravaged Burundi

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced today that it has distributed thousands of tons of food to some of the most vulnerable in Burundi facing severe hunger, including almost 200,000 schoolchildren in the small East African country.

WFP reported that an estimated 16,500 households in Burundi’s northern province of Kirundo faced serious food shortages after crops withered during a drought between September and November last year.

In addition, the lack of rainfall and early crop failure has deprived farmers in Kirundo of the money they normally get by selling part of their harvest to traders in advance. The money traditionally helps tide them over during the lean season before the harvest.

WFP distributed some 652 tons of food earlier this month to help the most affected households, as well as 719 tons of food to schools in the provinces of Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga, Cankuzo, Karuzi and Ruyigi, benefiting some 187,561 students.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has also provided seeds and tools to households in Kirundo and will distribute cassava cuttings, a seasonal crop resilient to the erratic climate.