The United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths has released a US$3.5 million contribution from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to assist around 38,650 people affected by food insecurity in the Republic of Burundi.
The Burundi IPC analysis released in September 2022 projects that 1.4 million people (12% of the population) will experience acute food insecurity during the lean season (October to December 2022), an increase of 18% compared to the period from June to September 2022.
However, climatic hazards that hit Burundi during the last quarter of 2022 (delay of the rainy season, hydric deficit, localized torrential rains mixed with wind and hail) worsened the impact of pre-existing shocks (COVID-19 pandemic, Rift Valley fever, inflation) and further deteriorated the country’s projected food insecurity level.
Farming households, which represent more than 90% of the population, have not set up the crops for the 2023A agricultural growing season and will face an extension of the lean season, marked by the depletion of food reserves, an increase in the price of essential foodstuffs on the market, and a reduction in the opportunities for agricultural labor.
Through this CERF Rapid Response allocation, people among the most severely affected will receive food assistance, seeds, and agricultural inputs through two projects implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).
Both projects intend to reduce the adoption of negative coping mechanisms by the most vulnerable households.
WFP will use a US$ 2.1 million allocation to provide emergency food assistance to 38,645 people (7,730 households) through a cash transfer modality, allowing the purchase of food on local markets to promote the local economy and support long-term solutions.
For its part, the FAO will allocate US$ 1.4 million to the provision of agricultural and livestock inputs to the same 7,730 households and the delivery of sensitization sessions on sustainable agricultural practices and land utilization.
FAO has welcomed the allocation stating that “climate change-related disasters have considerably impacted food production across the country, this CERF allocation will help us to assist farmers to recover, preserve their production assets and strengthen their resilience to shocks.”
WFP added, “the humanitarian response to the acute food security crisis affecting thousands of families in Burundi is critically underfunded, we hope that this CERF allocation will act as a catalytic instrument for the mobilization of additional resources, by the humanitarian and development partners present in Burundi.”
The UN Resident Coordinator Damien Mama said he was “very grateful to CERF for their consideration of the severe impact of climate change-related disasters on agriculture and food security in Burundi.”
The food security cluster’s requirements for 2022 remain underfunded at 33,4%, reducing its ability to respond as a food security crisis hits the country.
CERF pools contributions from donors around the world into a single fund allowing humanitarians to deliver life-saving assistance whenever and wherever crises hit. In 20 years, CERF allocated more than $75 million for 106 projects in Burundi.
