CERF allocates $1.6 million to provide humanitarian assistance in response to food insecurity in Burundi
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| People receiving water in Brundi [Photo: WFP] |
22 August 2008: The global food crisis is having a major impact in Burundi. Rising food prices have increased food insecurity and made maintaining basic nutrition a challenge for thousands of people in Burundi. The current level of food production has not been high enough to augment household incomes in rural and urban areas and people continue to be unable to cope with high food prices.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is responding to resulting malnutrition in mothers, expecting mothers, and children suffering from malnutrition. Using a CERF grant, UNICEF is supplying medical drugs and non-food items to vulnerable individuals and is supporting Vitamin A and Iron supplementation for children in nutritional services programmes. Additional food is also being distributed to families of children suffering from malnutrition. Six-thousand mothers and expecting mothers, and 16,000 children suffering from moderate and severe malnutrition are benefiting.
A CERF grant is allowing the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to assist vulnerable crop producers to increase their food production thereby lowering market prices and increasing food security. Crop seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and agricultural tools are being provided to 5,000 farmers in need and FAO is also acquiring 200 irrigation pumps, to improve crop yields by farmers.
[Last Update: 2 September 2008]