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Press Release

28 February 2006

UK responds to drought in Burundi

Drought-affected Burundi is set to receive £3 million to help the World Food Programme deliver food aid to 1.5 million people, the UK International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, announced today.

The announcement comes in response to the Government of Burundi’s appeal for £34 million assistance to meet immediate food needs, outlined in a new plan launched today.

The recent failure of rains, coupled with crop disease, have lead to a poor harvest in Burundi, where the majority of the country’s 6.8 million citizens are dependent on subsistence farming.

The Government of Burundi, elected six months ago in the first democratic elections for 12 years, is today launching a one year priority plan to meet immediate needs in the country. The plan calls on donors to provide a total of $168 million (around £98 million) to support the Government’s plans in areas including food needs, health, education and the reintegration of people forced from their homes by conflict.

Hilary Benn said:

“The drought in Burundi, and further north in the Horn of Africa, is having a terrible effect. Our support for the World Food Programme to provide food to those most in need in Burundi will help to save lives.

“The UK has also committed £20 million to provide food aid, water, health services and emergency nutrition for children in Ethiopia, Kenya, Eritrea and Somalia. We continue to assess the level of need, and stand ready to do more.

“But on its own, this emergency response will not prevent another crisis occurring. Food aid can help poor people survive day to day, but it will not help families to escape the poverty trap.

“If poor people are to escape from poverty and hunger, they need investment in key areas such as infrastructure, health and education. That’s why I am happy to announce that the UK will provide £6 million support to the government of Burundi’s one year priority plan.”

The UK has provided £20 million in the last year in response to the drought in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya and Eritrea), and is the second largest bilateral donor after the US.

The drought is occurring in the midst of a situation of chronic food shortages. The United Nations estimates that 7.4 million people are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance in the Horn of Africa, with 17.75 million people suffering from food shortages in the region as a whole (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya).

The effects of the drought are also being felt in Tanzania – where the Department for International Development is providing £700,000 to the World Food Programme to help provide assistance for over 500,000 identified as ‘destitute’ in the Tanzanian government’s recent vulnerability assessment (announced in Tanzania on 24 Feb 2006). Further food surveys are currently being carried out, which will help in assessing the need for further assistance.

DFID is also helping to tackle the long-term causes of chronic hunger in the region. For example, we have committed £70 million over three years to Ethiopia’s "Productive Safety Nets" programme - which aims to tackle these problems before crises occur. This helped 5 million people in 2005 and aims to help 8.29 million people in 2006, and nearly 9 million people in 2007.

For further information, contact DFID Press Office on 020 7023 0600, e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100.

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