Rising malnutrition in Kalemie

A recent humanitarian assessment mission in Kalemie, Katanga province, found a worrying food security situation and a growing number of malnourished children. A report received by IRIN on Wednesday said that most supply routes to the town had been cut because of the war and only small amounts of food arriving from Moba were available, but at four times the pre-war prices. About 45-50 malnourished children were receiving therapeutic care per week, while over 300 were in supplementary feeding programmes. The food security situation in Moba, traditionally the area's bread basket, was also reported to be poor as the war had disrupted agricultural activities over the past year, humanitarian sources said. About 200,000 people out of Moba's 400,000 residents had left the town, and many were still hiding in nearby forests, where they were surviving on whatever they could find in abandoned fields, the sources added.