ICRC aids some 20,000 in northern Katanga province

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun a humanitarian distribution effort to benefit some 20,000 inhabitants of 39 villages around Kilunga, in northern Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), near the Zambian border, the ICRC reported on Wednesday.

Some 3,350 families will each receive a large sack containing seeds, farming implements, cooking pots, cups, a resettlement kit and blankets, as part of the ICRC's "Operation Pepa". An ICRC-operated DC-3 aircraft will be transporting goods between Kalemie and Pepa, a short distance from Kilunga.

"The Kilunga area, which is at an elevation of 2,000 metres and therefore cold, is inhabited by people who have been on the move a great deal these past three years. They're exhausted," the ICRC delegate responsible for northern Katanga province said.

Before conflict in the DRC erupted in August 1998, people in the Kilunga area worked together on large farms. "These were emptied by the fighting and pillaging," the ICRC said. "As a result, local residents were no longer able to support themselves. Some from Kilunga fled to Zambia and have only recently returned, to a life fraught with difficulties," it added.

"When we made our first survey here we found that, apart from anything else, the maize was not growing as it should. The seed was as much as 40 years old," an ICRC agronomist said.

To enable people to feed themselves, high-quality seeds have to be imported. However, as Kilunga is very isolated, the supplies must first be shipped from Goma across Lake Kivu to Bukavu. There they are transferred to trucks bound for Uvira, where the goods are put on boats heading to Kalemie.

"We're delighted to see the operation under way at last," said one ICRC delegate. "It's important to sow the seeds immediately since there is only one growing season in the area, and that season is now."

The operation should be completed by 25 December, the ICRC reported.