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CAR/ HUNGER
STORY: CAR/ HUNGER
TRT: 2.23
SOURCE: WFP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ FRENCH/ NATS
DATELINE: 6 NOVEMBER 2013, GBAKABA, CAR
1. Med shot, Signpost at the entrance of Gbakaba
2. Med shot, child playing in front of burnt house
3. Closeup, debris
4. Med shot, truck with soldiers passing by
5. Various shots, IDP camp
6. SOUNDBITE (FRENCH), Samba Walter 28 year old student:
“We have suffered a lot. We are all living in the bush. And we do not know what to do. It’s really tough!”
7. Wide sot, Abandoned school
8. Various shots of mothers with children in hospital of Bossangoa being treated for malnutrition
9. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH), Denise Brown, WFP Regional Director:
“The conflict continues, there is continuous political instability, the population is extremely fragile, most of the schools have not opened.
People didn’t plant so they won’t be harvesting. Right now we are looking at what was a short term problem of population displacement and hunger, today we are looking at a longer term problem and continued hunger and we suspect growing malnutrition”
10. Wide shot, food distribution
11. Med shot, WFP banner
12. Med shot, WFP officials signig in residents
13. Med shot, woman preparing food
14. Closeup, food being cooked
15. Wide shot, abandoned school turned into IDP camp
16. Various shots of school
An Emergency Food Security Assessment conducted jointly by the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and the Government of Central African Republic, shows that 1.1 million people – around 30 percent of the population living outside the capital Bangui – are unable to meet their daily food needs on a regular basis or require food assistance in order to get by.
At least half the estimated 395,000 people internally displaced people in CAR are considered to lack access to enough safe and nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life.
Since conflict erupted in December 2012, many farmers fled their farms, leaving crops untended. The majority of households said that their livestock had been stolen. Some families sold livestock and seeds to survive, while others sold herds for fear of displacement or looting. Samba Walter 28 year old have been displaced from his home as well.
“We have suffered a lot. We are all living in the bush. And we do not know what to do. It’s really tough!”
The areas where people face the greatest problems getting enough food themselves include Ouham, Ouham-Pende and Nana Gribizi in the north, and Vakaga and Bamingui-Bangoran in the northwest. However, pockets of food insecurity are found throughout the country.
WFP is concerned that the next lean season, which usually begins in May and is when the food from the last harvest runs out, may start as early as the beginning of next year.
Two-thirds of the farm households surveyed in the assessment said that their harvests would be smaller than last year. The survey found that there may not be enough food in the country to cover people’s needs through January/February 2014.
Denise Brown, WFP Regional Director:
“The conflict continues, there is continuous political instability, the population is extremely fragile, most of the schools have not opened.
People didn’t plant so they won’t be harvesting. Right now we are looking at what was a short term problem of population displacement and hunger, today we are looking at a longer term problem and continued hunger and we suspect growing malnutrition”
Disruptions to the cotton trade, labour shortages and reduced peanut harvests – the primary sources of income for rural families – have decreased purchasing power and economic activities, raising the risk of a nutrition crisis that would be exacerbated by limited access to health facilities.
WFP has provided vital food assistance to around 250,000 people in CAR since January this year. To keep assisting some of the world’s most vulnerable people, WFP requires an additional US$20 million from now until April 2014.
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