Central African Republic: Looming Food Crisis in Country

Bangui — Humanitarian agencies are warning of a looming food crisis in parts of the Central African Republic (CAR), a result of the insecurity that has displaced thousands of people and disrupted cultivation and trade.

Clashes between government and rebel forces in December and early January left some parts of CAR - and an estimated 800,000 people - under the control of the rebel Séléka coalition.

"Between July and September, there will be serious food shortages in the most affected areas. So the first priority is to restart programmes that have been disrupted in these areas," Jean Martin Bauer, an analyst with the UN World Food Programme (WFP), said.

Food prices are increasing, according to the findings of a recent assessment by WFP and its partners.

"Since December 2012, trade has been interrupted between the area held by the Séléka coalition and the rest of the country, bringing transactions to a halt and leading to sharp price increases.

The cost of a food basket has increased by 40 percent in the area under the control of the Central African armed forces. Some of the zones under the control of the Séléka are experiencing food deficits due to price increases," stated a 15 February statement by WFP.

Humanitarian officials expressed concern over the upcoming cropping season. "We are very concerned about prospect for the 2013 growing season, which is due to start in just a few weeks. Land preparation, which should have begun, is behind schedule in many places due to insecurity," said Rockaya Fall, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in CAR.

The disruption of trade has caused income sources to decline, adds the statement: "The marketing season of the annual cotton crop, a lifeline for the northern part of the country, has yet to start in the Séléka zone, depriving farmers [of] their main income source."

An estimated 80,538 people in the Séléka zone are at risk of food insecurity in the May-September lean season.

The situation in CAR remains unpredictable despite an 11 January ceasefire, added a report released by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on 18 February, which noted that a lack of humanitarian access due to insecurity, especially in the east, and poor roads are hindering the provision of assistance.

Access

Aid officials are calling for access to Séléka-held areas.

"The main problem is to open a humanitarian corridor in the Séléka-held areas. Once free to move, we will be able to bring the affected population together so as to provide the necessary assistance," said Kaarina Immonen, the UN deputy special representative for CAR.

Other main humanitarian needs include healthcare and education.

"We must go to those who are suffering. But first we would like to know and to understand the health situation on the ground before we respond to the needs of the population in the areas of conflict," said Honorat Ouilibona-Cockciss, the chief of staff in the ministry of health.

The number of patients seeking medical care is on the rise. In the area of Damara, 75km from the capital Bangui, for example, health centres are recording up to 200 consultations each day despite inadequate staff.

Almost all of the schools in the Séléka-held areas have been closed, with at least 166,000 children out of school, according to OCHA. Some teachers have also fled, according to Henry Sylvain Yakara, a national humanitarian affairs officer with OCHA.

The Séléka-rebels also destroyed some school facilities and were using some schools buildings as their bases, added Yakara.

Attacks continuing

Despite the 11 January peace accord, and the later formation of a government of national unity integrating the Séléka rebels, attacks are continuing.

In early February, for example, 2,300 people fled the southeastern CAR region of Mobaye for the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) area of Mobayi-Mbongo after a Séléka attack. Some 4,500 people had previously fled to DRC in the past weeks, with hundreds of others seeking refuge in Chad.

The Séléka rebels comprise militias from the Union des forces démocratiques pour le rassemblement (UFDR), the Convention Patriotique pour le Salut Wa Kodro (CSPK) and Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix (CPJP), who were seeking to overthrow the CAR government.

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.]

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Insurgency threatens food crisis in Central African Republic - WFP

GENEVA (Reuters) - Insecurity in Central African Republic threatens a severe food crisis this year, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Friday, citing a doubling of prices for staples such as corn after a month-long insurgency.

Some 800,000 people live in the central third of CAR, an area still held by the Seleka rebel coalition.

Widespread looting had reduced household production as well as stocks of food, seed and animals, and insecurity was preventing farmers from going about their work, it said. Food in CAR comes mainly from subsistence farming and market gardening.

The mineral-rich former French colony signed a ceasefire deal with Seleka on January 11 after an insurgency that swept to within striking distance of the capital.

Humanitarian access to that area must be ensured to avoid a crisis, WFP said. Farmers in the northern part of that area were being deprived of their main income source because they cannot get their already-harvested cotton crop to market, it said.

Citing a food security assessment by the United Nations and non-governmental organisations, WFP said food looked set to become especially short in the May to September rainy season.

WFP had been distributing aid to 200,000 people in the area controlled by Seleka before the insurgency and says at least 80,000 people now faced a severe risk of food shortage.

Seleka, a coalition of five separate rebel groups, launched its insurgency in early December, accusing President Francois Bozize of reneging on a 2007 peace deal supposed to provide jobs and money to insurgents who laid down their weapons.

"The cost of a food basket has increased by 40 percent in the area under the control of the central African armed forces. Some of the zones under the control of the Seleka are experiencing food deficits due to price increases," WFP said.

Central African Republic, with a population of about 4.5 million, remains one of the least developed countries on the planet despite rich deposits of gold, diamonds and uranium.

The country is one of a number in the region where U.S. Special Forces are helping local soldiers hunt down the Lord's Resistance Army, an unrelated rebel group that has killed thousands of civilians across four nations.

(Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Copyright © 2013 Reuters

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UN assessment warns of potential food crisis in Central African Republic - UN News Centre

Food drop over Sikikédé, Central African Republic, in response to the food and nutrition crisis in the western Vakaga region in September 2012. Photo: OCHA/L. Paletta

15 February 2013 – An assessment conducted by the United Nations and its partners has found that the recent conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) could trigger a food crisis in the country, the world body said today.

“We are very concerned about prospects for the 2013 growing season, which is due to start in just a few weeks,” said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Representative in Bangui, Rockaya Fall. “Land preparation, which should have begun, is behind schedule in many places, due to insecurity.”

The CAR has a history of political instability and recurring armed conflict. The country saw renewed fighting in December, when an alliance of rebel groups – known, collectively, as ‘Séléka’ – launched a series of attacks and took control of major towns before agreeing to start peace talks under the auspices of the regional group known as the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS).

According to the assessment, trade has been interrupted between the area held by the Séléka coalition and the rest of the country, bringing transactions to a halt and leading to sharp increases in food prices.

The cost of a food basket has increased by 40 per cent in the area under the control of the Central African armed forces, while zones under the control of the Séléka, where some 800,000 live, are experiencing food deficits. Looting has become widespread, and is affecting food and seed stocks as well as animals and livestock. The resulting insecurity is also limiting farmers from working their fields.

The World Food Programme (WFP) warned that food deficits will be highest during the lean season from May to September. Added to that, as food prices increase, the population’s resources will further dwindle. Whereas a Central African labourer could purchase as much as six kilogrammes of cassava with a day’s wages a year ago, he or she can only purchase three kilogrammes this year, due to lower wage rates and higher prices.

“Although the situation in the field has yet to reach crisis proportions, there is risk that it might during the approaching lean season,” said WFP Representative in the CAR, Housainou Taal. “Humanitarian access to the Séléka zone must be ensured to avoid a crisis.”

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