Agencies warn of food insecurity in Bugesera

Humanitarian agencies have warned that a severe production shortfall in about half of Bugesera region in Kigali Rural Province of Rwanda could lead to a rapid deterioration in food security if aid to residents was not increased. Some 70,000 people in the region were already experiencing conditions of moderate food insecurity, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and FEWS NET reported on Friday. A joint assessment by the two agencies conducted in early May found that the households most affected were still coping using traditional strategies such as off-farm employment and petty trade. They were also reducing the frequency of meals and the total quantity of food consumed. They said that in general, however, people had not yet resorted to the sale of assets (livestock, bicycles, iron sheets covering roofs) or to massive migration due in part to a WFP food-for-work project that started in mid-April. "The people interviewed among the very poor [about eight percent of the total population of the area, or about 5,400 people] believed that in order for them to cope better, the food-for-work project should be increased so as to benefit more people," the agencies reported. "Unfortunately, the WFP Rwanda food pipeline runs out at the end of August, unless donors rapidly make new donations in cash or kind." Meanwhile, with rainfall recorded in all areas of Rwanda until at least 17 May, the season finally ended up only a week or two weeks shorter than normal, allowing most beans and sorghum to reach maturity. "The production of these crops should therefore be about average in most of the country," the agencies reported. "Irish potatoes and bananas are also reported to have done fairly well. However, sweet potatoes and cassava are performing very poorly because of reduced planting and diseases, respectively." The agencies said that current food security and prospects for the second half of the year looked "fairly good at national level". They said this forecast would be confirmed in July by a Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry (MINAGRI)-led joint crop assessment mission. FEWS NET is a USAID-funded activity that collaborates with international, national, and regional partners to provide early warning and vulnerability information on emerging or evolving food security issues. [For more information, go to www.fews.net]