Fighting threatens new harvest

Fierce fighting between Angolan government forces and UNITA rebels has displaced tens of thousands and threatens to worsen the country’s already dire food security situation, aid workers told IRIN on Tuesday.

“The fighting is very bad, people are fleeing in every direction,” a humanitarian official said. “The people are escaping with nothing, even if they had seeds and tools, where are they going to plant?”

The government’s long-awaited offensive has taken place just before the rainy season and is expected to drag on through the planting period, impacting on harvests in the fall.

The situation is especially serious in the central highlands, a UNITA stronghold and formerly the country’s breadbasket. In the past three weeks, 30,000-45,000 displaced have arrived on the outskirts of Kuito, the provincial capital of Bie, camping out on barren terrain that lacks even grass to allow them to build shelters.

“They are in terrible circumstances,” an aid worker said. “There is not enough grass, tents, there’s not enough of anything.” The displaced fled fighting north of Kuito, an area that has repeatedly changed hands between government and UNITA forces.

“Our contingency plans had taken into consideration there was going to be a harvest,” the aid worker said. “Even if the war stops today, there are still going to be a lot of problems.”