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CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC / FOOD INSECURITY
STORY: CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC / FOOD INSECURITY
TRT: 2.27
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / FRENCH / NATS
DATELINE: 18-19 JANUARY 2016, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
18 JANUARY 2016, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
1. Wide shot, UN peacekeepers at checkpoint
2. Various shots, war damaged houses, shops and mosque, destroyed by armed groups
19 JANUARY 2016, BANGUI PEDIATRIC CENTRE, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
3. Med shot, mothers with their children waiting to be checked for malnutrition at pediatric nutrition center
4. Various shots, malnourished children being screened
5. Med shot, child
18 JANUARY 2016, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Vandervelden, WFP Regional Emergency Coordinator:
“WFP is extremely concerned about the food security situation that’s worsening in Central African Republic, one out of two people in Central African Republic don’t have enough food to eat and don’t know where the next meal is coming from, the people most affected are the returnees and hundreds of thousands of people that remain internally displaced inside Central African Republic, WFP is doing everything it can to respond to this alarming situation but it needs support.”
18 JANUARY 2016, SAINT SAUVEUR CAMP, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
7. Wide shot, camp
8. Various shots, people living in the camp
9. SOUNDBITE (French) Belime Lucienne, Displaced Person:
“We were chased away from there and we came here to Saint Sauveur. Since the 26th of September we have been here for the past four months. We have a lot of problems. We have a lot of worries. As I have a lot of children and no one to help me. My husband disappeared. I don’t know what to do feed my children.”
18 JANUARY 2016, CASTORS CAMP, BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
10. Various shots, Women cooking
11. SOUNDBITE (French) Ata Wali, Displaced Person:
“I suffer when it comes to food. Do you see how I am doing? I suffer. I have just gone to the hospital but since I have no money, I came back. I go to bed hungry.”
12. Various shots, women and children
An Emergency Food Security Assessment by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners reveals that half the population of the Central African Republic (CAR) – nearly 2.5 million people − faces hunger.
This marks a doubling in the number of hungry people in a one-year period, as conflict and insecurity have led to limited access to and availability of food.
In order to tackle malnutrition, WFP is providing highly nutritious food (fortified blended cereals and & fortified oil) to all children under five, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers in severely food-insecure households outside Bangui and in camps for displaced people.
SOUNDBITE (English) Margot Vandervelden, WFP Regional Emergency Coordinator:
“WFP is extremely concerned about the food security situation that’s worsening in Central African Republic, one out of two people in Central African Republic don’t have enough food to eat and don’t know where the next meal is coming from, the people most affected are the returnees and hundreds of thousands of people that remain internally displaced inside Central African Republic, WFP is doing everything it can to respond to this alarming situation but it needs support.”
WFP provides food to over 3,000 displaced people at Saint Sauveur Camp. They receive cereals, pulses oil and highly nutritious food for children.
SOUNDBITE (French) Belime Lucienne, Displaced Person:
“We were chased away from there and we came here to Saint Sauveur. Since the 26th of September we have been here for the past four months. We have a lot of problems. We have a lot of worries. As I have a lot of children and no one to help me. My husband disappeared. I don’t know what to do feed my children.”
According to the assessment, one in six women, men and children struggles with severe or extreme food insecurity – not knowing where their next meal is coming from – while more than one in three are moderately food insecure.
About 2,000 displaced people receive food assistance from WFP at Castor Camp.
SOUNDBITE (French) Ata Wali, Displaced Person:
“I suffer when it comes to food. Do you see how I am doing? I suffer. I have just gone to the hospital but since I have no money, I came back. I go to bed hungry.”
The report shows that the 2014-2015 harvest was poor and that food prices remain high as farmers have not tended their fields due to insecurity, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes and abandon their land and livelihoods.
Further clashes erupted in late September as much of the food security data for the assessment was being collected. That violence fuelled more displacement as people were slowly returning home. Nearly 1 million people are still displaced inside the C.A.R. or seeking refuge in neighbouring countries.
The report recommends continued emergency food assistance to displaced families and returnees; food and technical assistance to farmers to recover; creating safety nets through programmes such as the school meals programme; and providing support to rehabilitate the infrastructure through food-for-assets activities.
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