VZCZCXRO8913
RR RUEHRN
DE RUEHNR #0933/01 0581328
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271328Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7794
INFO RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 1786
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM 5120
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 4709
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0111
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4109
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NAIROBI 000933 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID/DCHA/AA FOR WGARVELINK, LROGERS 
DCHA/OFDA FOR GGOTTLIEB, CGOTTSCHALK, KCHANNELL 
DCHA/FFP FOR JDWORKEN, TANDERSON, CMUTAMBA, TMCRAE 
AFR/EA FOR JBORNS, SMCCLURE 
USMISSION UN ROME FOR RNEWBERG 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER 
NSC FOR JMELINE 
BUJUMBURA FOR PMOLLER, RLUNEBURG 
DAR ES SALAAM FOR PWHITE, MLATOUR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BY KE
SUBJECT: USAID/FFP CONTRIBUTES $5 MILLION IN FOOD AID TO 
FLOOD AFFECTED IN BURUNDI 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY:  Excessive and exceptional heavy rains and 
floods in November - December 2006 have negatively 
impacted food and seed production in Burundi. Their 
impact prolongs the hunger gap period to ten months; the 
short dry season harvest of December - January never 
occurred severely limiting the availability of seeds for 
the February 2007 planting season, which normally 
produces 50 percent of Burundi's agricultural 
production. WFP is targeting 2.5 million beneficiaries 
for food for April - June 2007. This period is critical 
since the last productive harvest was in June 2006. 
USAID/FFP has allocated an additional 6,080 MTs of food 
commodities valued at $5,016,200 to WFP for the flood- 
affected victims. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  Regional USAID/East Africa/FFP Officer conducted an 
assessment of flood affected areas of Burundi from 
January 25 - 27, 2007. The floods were caused by 
excessive and exceptional rains in November and December 
2006 that have negatively impacted food and seed 
productions. The entire country has been affected to 
varying degrees, with the highlands most seriously 
impacted by erosion and plant crops that were swept 
away. This area corresponds with the traditional "bread 
basket" areas of the country. The Crop and Food Supply 
Assessment Mission (CFSAM) of January 2007 which was 
conducted by FAO, WFP and GOB, indicated that 50 percent 
of the people in those zones have been affected while 
the six month agricultural season (2006C: June - 
November 2006) has lost an estimated 50 - 80 percent of 
its yields. The 2007A five month planting season 
(September - January) that produces 35 percent of 
national production was also negatively impacted. The 
short dry season (December - January) is when crops are 
dried to produce seeds that are normally produced in 
planting season A. Since this never occurred due to the 
rains, seeds will be in short supply for the most 
significant planting season (Agricultural Season B) of 
February - May, that normally produces 50 percent of 
Burundi's annual agricultural production.  It is 
probable that the seeds that are made will likely be 
eaten during the prolonged hunger period. 
 
¶3.  In a regional FEWSNET presentation in Nairobi in 
February, 2007, FEWSNET officials reported that the slow 
warming of the Indian Ocean has created excess moisture 
generating heavy rains across the southern belt of 
Africa, which includes Burundi, during October - 
January. FEWSNET shared that soils that have been 
subjected to drought over a long period of time become 
very porous. When it rains, the water runs right off 
taking the soil and plant life along as well, explaining 
the devastating erosion that occurred in the highlands. 
With the exception of the recent flooding, Burundi has 
been experiencing drought since 2000. 
 
¶4.  Burundi has been affected by a series of 
agricultural and climactic incidences over the past few 
years, creating a domino effect that consistently 
weakens future food security prospects for the country. 
The critical implication of this latest occurrence is 
not only the immediate impact of reduced food and seed 
stocks, but also the cumulative aspect of a hunger gap 
season that has been extended from six intermittent 
months to 10 consecutive months from September 2006 to 
June 2007. Cassava Mosaic disease (CMD) attacked fields 
throughout East and Central Africa, appearing in Burundi 
in 2004. FAO estimates that CMD has decimated 60% of the 
cassava plant (a usual hunger gap staple) throughout the 
country, in many of the same areas affected by the heavy 
rains and floods. 
 
¶5. There are other indirect yet important implications 
 
NAIROBI 00000933  002 OF 004 
 
 
of the recent heavy rains and floods: 
 
   This event is occurring at a period during which 
Burundi has ended a 13 year civil war and humanitarian 
donors and organizations are winding down emergency 
activities and preparing to leave Burundi, diminishing 
the capacity to respond to such an emergency. 
 
    The food security crisis can be manipulated in 
Burundi's extremely fragile political environment. This 
is the third food crisis since the government has come 
to power in 2005 and falls on the heels of the 
demobilization of the last armed rebel group (FNL). 
Government opposition can use this situation to 
highlight the current government's inability to take 
care of its people. 
 
   If the food insecurity crisis persists, it will 
likely stop the flow of Burundian refugees from Tanzania 
where there are still over 150,000 Burundian refugees 
remaining. A large movement of Burundians to Tanzania is 
also very possible. 
 
  The fragility of coping mechanisms pushes more and 
more Burundians to the edge. The recent Crop Assessment 
indicates that the population has resorted to eating one 
meal/day. WFP reports that parents are now turning up to 
eat at schools where their children participate in 
school feeding programs; or leaving children at the 
offices of the local administration as they can no 
longer feed them. It is too soon to see the aggregate 
impact on the nutritional status. 
 
¶6.  The FFP Officer accompanied the Provincial 
Administrator and WFP to visit flood affected zones in 
Gatumba town in Bujumbura Rural some 18 kms from the 
capital Bujumbura.  In Gatumba, the damage witnessed has 
been a result of natural as well as man-made events. 
Gatumba (population: 35,000 people) is in the lowlands. 
Years of conflicts have forced cattle herders to move 
their stock to the capital, Bujumbura, for security 
reasons. As a result communities have installed 
themselves in areas close to the city, in zones that 
were prone to flooding. In this particular instance, 
there was also roadwork being done near the village, 
which blocked water run-off (of the mountains) from 
accessing the lake resulting in intense flooding. The 
Administrator indicated 17,000 people or 50 percent of 
the population was affected in this zone. 
 
¶7.  The FFP Officer saw houses that were standing in 
water. All the houses had water marks that ranged from 
ankle-high to knee-high, indicating the former water 
levels.  There were small boats around and the 
Administrator indicated it was the only way to move from 
one area to another.  For the houses that were not 
standing in water, the floors were very wet and muddy, 
rendering them uninhabitable.  Most of the pit latrines 
had been washed away. The canals dug around the houses 
were still filled with water as well as raw sewage. The 
Red Cross has sprayed the area in an effort to avert 
cholera. The FFP Officer visited a field in a marshland. 
WFP and the Administrator indicated that a few weeks 
back the field was entirely immersed in water and the 
tomatoes and beans planted there were lost. 
 
 
RESPONSE 
 
 
¶8.  WFP is targeting 2.5 million people with a half 
ration from April - June 2007.  This period is critical 
since the last productive harvest was in June 2006. WFP 
 
NAIROBI 00000933  003 OF 004 
 
 
indicates the need for 13,000 MTs/month for the three 
month period, valued at $12 million. At present they do 
not have enough food resources to address this need. 
With current resources they can only reach 300,000 flood 
- affected people/month. In order to do that they will 
run on minimum reserve and cut current food rations 
reserved for school feeding, refugees, and Burundians 
expelled from Tanzania, by 25 percent. 
 
¶9.  FAO has targeted 458,100 families for bean seed 
distribution. They will distribute more maize with a 
more resistant strain of beans. They will additionally 
distribute linga-linga seeds, a fast growing green leafy 
local crop rich in vitamins and iron. 
 
 
ACTIONS IMPLEMENTED AND RECOMMENDED 
 
 
¶10.  Action: USAID/Food for Peace immediately 
contributed 6,080 MTs of commodities valued at 
$5,016,200, to Burundi to support WFP in building food 
stocks to address the critical period of April - June, 
¶2007.  This represents 42 percent of their stated 
appeal. 
 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 
¶11. The following recommendations are made to facilitate 
future tracking of food aid trends and trouble shoot 
upcoming crises: 
 
  WFP must clearly indicate that the targeted 
distributions are for the flood affected victims (though 
it is clear that drought and flood - affected are in 
many instances, one and the same families in this small 
country). Targeting should be more specific to include 
the zones most affected in a commune, particularly since 
the resources for this intervention will be very 
limited. 
 
  Hire a FSN Food Aid Monitor. USAID/Burundi has no 
human resource capacity to monitor food aid trends. As 
the country of Burundi transitions, it is evident given 
this current crisis that the emergency needs remain 
high. The food aid situation is currently monitored from 
a regional level. The placement of an FSN Food Aid 
Monitor would be a significant support to the expanding 
USAID Office in terms of monitoring the use of USG food 
aid resources and ensuring integration with other USG 
resources.  USAID/FFP is committed to facilitate 
Burundi's transition period. A Food Aid Monitor would 
support the transition away from emergency food aid to 
activities that address underlying vulnerabilities. 
Additionally he/she could work with WFP on continuing 
challenging points such as targeting and effective use 
of safety nets in nutrition feeding programs. In the 
event that FFP expands their partners beyond WFP, the 
Food Aid Monitor would be integral to working with these 
potential partners. 
 
  Expand FEWSNET to include Burundi.  This would 
assist FFP in tracking important climactic/food security 
trends as well as ground-truth local reports. Though 
FEWSNET was called upon in the early alerts of this 
crisis, they admitted that Burundi's case highlighted 
the need for better estimates of the location and 
quantity of presumed erosion on hill-side planting, as 
well the impacts of submersion and drowning of crops in 
lowland marshes. Additionally they report that they had 
very few insights to add to the level of crop damage 
 
NAIROBI 00000933  004 OF 004 
 
 
reported from Burundi due to the lack of a FEWSNET 
presence in country. If the Rwanda office could be made 
into a regional office to include Burundi and Eastern 
Congo, significant coverage of the Great Lakes Region by 
FEWSNET would be established. 
 
¶12.  Kudos to USAID/Food for Peace Office's immediate 
and unwavering response which is critical in post- 
conflict Burundi. 
 
RANNEBERGER