VZCZCXRO1646
OO RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHGI #0190/01 2381459
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O R 261459Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGUI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1018
INFO RHMFISS/AFRICOM
RUEHBZ/AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE 0196
RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHKH/AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM 0301
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 0312
RUEHLC/AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE 0211
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0155
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 0151
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0501
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0486
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0142
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0473
RUEHGI/AMEMBASSY BANGUI 1283

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000190 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/C 
USUN FOR DMUERS 
PARIS FOR RKANEDA 
LONDON FOR PLORD 
NAIROBI  FOR AKARAS 
AFRICOM FOR JKUGEL 
INR FOR CNEARY 
DRL FOR SCRAMPTON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR CT
SUBJECT: WFP FEARS FAMINE IN NORTHEAST CAR, PROBLEM MAY BE MORE WIDE 
SPREAD 
 
REF: A - 09 BANGUI 152 AND PREVIOUS 
 
BANGUI 00000190  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.(U) SUMMARY: An August 20 assessment visit to by the World 
Food Program (WFP) to Birao has determined that recent civil 
strife in the Vakaga region of the Central African Republic 
(CAR) has severely affected the food and livelihood security for 
the entire population and all humanitarian indicators are in 
decline. As the situation currently stands, the 15,000 displaced 
people (IDPs) in and around Birao will not have food from 
September 2009 until the start of 2010.  Due to the necessity of 
using costly air transport during the rainy season to move 
prepositioned food supplies to Birao, the WFP anticipates a $2 
million shortfall in funds. Post fears that this report may 
underestimate the scope of the problem. There are similar 
problems looming in the southwest, near the second largest city 
in the CAR and in the extreme southeast, due to LRA activity. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2.(U) The Ambassador traveled to Birao, the provincial capital 
of the Vakaga, on August 20, 2009 to assess humanitarian 
conditions, as the guest of the World Food Program. Inter-ethnic 
rivalry over natural resources and political control in June 
2009(Ref A) left over 30 dead and forced nearly half of the 
population to flee the town. Fear of further violence and 
sporadic reprisals by the warring factions has left the region 
in a fragile state. The WFP believes its estimate of 15,000 
displaced persons to be conservative as they and their partner 
organizations have not been able to travel farther than the 
outskirts of Birao. 
 
3.(U) The WFP originally counted on feeding 3,000 IDPs through 
December 2009, but the violence of June has radically changed 
the situation. The fivefold increase of food dependent people 
means that that by September the WFP will have depleted their 
stocks in Birao.  Additionally, the violence of June impeded the 
planting of the crops, compounding the threat of famine.  (The 
next harvest will not be until November 2010.) Compounding the 
disaster is the lack of ground transport to and within the 
region due to the rainy season. Birao is virtually an island as 
the laterite and dirt roads cannot support heavy ground 
transport from Bangui or Sudan and thus only air transport can 
bring in food supplies. 
 
¶4. (U) The WFP currently has 4,000 metric tons of food in the 
CAR with approximately the same quantity en route. Birao 
requires 1,000 metric tons to meet its current needs, but 
current weather and road conditions require airlift until the 
rains relent in December/January. The WFP is currently writing a 
proposal for a contractor to deliver the food but do not have 
the two million dollars that it would cost to hire them. 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT: These numbers are only preliminary and the 
problem may be much worse and more widespread. 
-- Post notes that humanitarian agencies have numbers on Birao 
only; they simply have no information on the Goula tribe center 
of Tirangulu or the Rounga area near Sikikede. Beyond the 
Vakaga, Post fears that the situation may be similar around 
Ndele. 
 
-- Also in the north the UN has recently reported food problems 
in Kabo. We expect that due to the well established NGO 
community in the Paoua area, the situation is not as severe 
there. 
 
-- Reports of malnutrition from the Berberati/Carnot area in the 
southwest are likewise alarming. 
 
-- Post has previously reported on the food needs due to LRA 
activity in the southeast. 
 
 
BANGUI 00000190  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
We are launching a major effort to develop a comprehensive 
understanding of the scale of the problem.  END COMMENT. 
COOK