Severe drought compounds crisis

Malnutrition and hunger are on the increase, particularly in drought-affected areas such as the northeastern provinces of Kirundo and Muyinga, CARE said on Friday. In a statement, the NGO said it had begun distributing food this week to some 250,000 drought-affected people in Kirundo following rapid assessments. CARE country director David Rhody said in some areas of Kirundo “even the banana trees, a stable crop, are dying for lack of water.” “The security situation is perilous and the humanitarian situation, now exacerbated by a severe drought, is going from bad to worse,” he said. The NGO this week also began distributing food to over 300,000 conflict-affected people in Bujumbura-Rural, the statement said. CARE’s food distribution activities had been suspended since the October killings in Rutana, it added.