FAO increases aid to 125,000 people in Kayanza Province

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization announced on Monday increased aid to thousands of vulnerable households in the northwestern Burundi province of Kayanza, where there is significant food insecurity. FAO said it planned to distribute additional supplies of beans, maize and vegetable seeds to a total of 25,000 households in the province, before the 2004A cropping season begins in September/October 2003. These households, representing some 125,000 people, will also receive farm inputs such as hand hoes, shovels and watering cans. "This increased aid to an additional 5,000 households will make Kayanza Province the largest recipient of FAO inputs in the country," the agency said. It added that this increase compared to the 2,000 households who received FAO support in the 2002B cropping season that took place between February and March 2003. In July 2003, FAO distributed some 10 mt of maize seeds, 10 mt of vegetable seeds and 5 mt of soya bean seeds to 4,000 households, enabling the beneficiaries in the marshy lands of the province to continue their normal dry season agricultural activities. FAO said that hunger in Kayanza was caused by increased political instability since the beginning of 2003. In addition, it said, a shortage of hard currency and the destabilisation of traditional import mechanisms in Burundi had led to a scarcity of imported fertilizer. This, the FAO added, had in turn exacerbated the food security situation throughout the country.