WFP in seed protection effort in Burundi

The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) reported on Friday that it had started a countrywide distribution of seed protection rations in Burundi in an effort to ensure that seeds distributed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) are planted rather than eaten. The plan is to assist 140,650 households with more than 7,700 mt of food, WFP said, adding that some 1,190 mt of food had been supplied to 21,600 households in the provinces of Muyinga, in the northeast, and Rutana, in the southeast, from 11 to 24 February. In Burundi, WFP said, it was also continuing with targeted distributions to populations displaced as a result of insecurity. It noted that more than 23,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Isale commune in Bujumbura Rural province, now located in Bujumbura Mairie, had been assisted. During February, WFP also assisted some 83,000 vulnerable people in Rwanda, providing more than 1,700 mt of food under various programmes, the agency stated in its latest emergency update, released on Friday. This included assistance to over 32,700 refugees from Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), located in the provinces of Kibuye in the west, Gikongoro in the south and Byumba in the north, it said. In the Republic of Congo, a mission was carried out in the central Plateau and northern Cuvette regions to assess the need for activities within the Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) for assistance to war affected people. WFP was also part of an inter-agency mission to Kinkala, in Pool region, neighbouring the capital, Brazzaville, from 25-28 February to investigate the feasibility of extending an ongoing HIV/AIDS programme to the area. The mission noted that the lack of AIDS screening equipment might hinder the proper implementation of this project, the agency said. In the Central African Republic (CAR), new Congolese refugees continued to arrive in Molangue camp from the CAR capital, Bangui, and from the Libengue area, which both border the DRC. As of 20 February, approximately 2,700 refugees were located in the camp, WFP said. A monthly distribution of some 40 mt of food was being implemented in collaboration with the Italian nongovernmental organisation Coopi, WFP said, adding that another group of refugees was still located in Bangui and may start receiving food assistance.