UN agencies say situation remains precarious

While reporting significant reductions in malaria and measles cases, UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), and cooperating NGOs warned that the threat of malnutrition remained very serious in many regions due to continued insecurity and limited access to populations, according to the most recent update on the humanitarian situation in Burundi from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Harvest projections made by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) for 11 of the 15 provinces of Burundi expected moderate increases in crop yields, although a general degradation of soil fertility was observed, often a result of deforestation, erosion, and lack of fertilisers. Plant diseases, insects, and theft of crops were also noted for adversely affecting harvest yields. A variety of recommendations to address reduced yields have been made by various NGOs and UN agencies, and a joint mission of the Ministry of Agriculture, FAO, World Food Programme (WFP), and UNICEF is presently underway to provide a final assessment of the current agricultural season.

WFP reported that it had distributed a total of 27,289 metric tonnes of food assistance to more than two million beneficiaries countrywide during the first four months of 2001. Although much higher in comparison to the same period last year, WFP noted that it could have delivered even more food to vulnerable populations under more stable security conditions. Insecurity has had a particularly adverse effect on the ability to carry out food distributions in the province of Bujumbura Rural. The recent creation of a joint Humanitarian Community and Government Commission on Access and Protection for vulnerable people and internally displaced persons (IDPs) is seen by OCHA as an important step towards responding to this challenge.

Citing an FAO report, the update also highlights the plight of the minority Batwa ethnic group, who experience the most severe level of poverty among the people of Burundi. A large segment of the Batwa pygmy population do not have access to farm land, and those who do are in dire need of seeds, as it is estimated that approximately 60 percent of the seeds received for planting were eaten. Subsisting on an average US 50 cents per day, most Batwa families can not afford education, health services, or clothing for their children.