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We can feed our people, Burundi govt says
2006-03-04 10:09:33
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
Burundi has enough food to feed its population of six million people, the country said yesterday. The Burundi embassy in Dar es Salaam said that Bujumbura had raised US$170 million during an international funds drive in its capital on Tuesday this week.
He said the money was enough to alleviate debilitating impact of food deficits on the central African nation that is smarting from the ravages of a 14-years old civil strife.
Ambassador Aloys Mbonayo told The Guardian in an exclusive interview yesterday that, following the famine in his country, which triggered the current influx of ’food refugees’ into Tanzania, the food-related problem was being addressed, following the donation from development partners and friendly governments in Africa.
’’Our target was to raise US$20.9 million, which the country needed to offset the current food deficit and fund the repatriation and resettlement of retuning refugees from neighbouring countries and Japan donated most of the money.We extend our gratitude to all countries which attended the meeting and thus contributed enough money to lift the country in the struggle against famine,’’ he said.
Mbonayo said that in Africa, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria also donated towards the cause to feed starving Burundians, who like their counterparts in Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan have been adversely affected by drought-induced food shortages.
He said the government would use the funds to purchase relief food and agricultural inputs for returning refugees.
’’The government will use the money to purchase relief food to feed the people in affected provinces,’’ he said.
He said that the most affected provinces are Ruyigi, Cankuzo and Kirundo.
The countries that attended the fundraiser in Bujumbura were France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, the UK, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Russia, Thailand, Greece and India.
In Africa, South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Nigeria took part.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), the European Union, the African Development Bank (ADB), Swedish International Development Agency (Sida) and the World Food Programme (WFP) were among the organisations that responded to the Burundi government’s appeal for famine relief funds.
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