OFDA FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM IN SHABUNDA AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KINSHASA 000653

SIPDIS

AIDAC

SIPDIS

AID/W FOR DCHA/OFDA- MMARX, CGOTTCHALK, MSHIRLEY
AID/W FOR DCHA/FFP- TANDERSON, NCOX, TMCRAE
AID/W FOR DCHA/OTI- RJENKINS, KHUBER
AID/W FOR AFR- KO'DONNELL, JBORNS
NAIROBI FOR USAID/OFDA/ARO- JMYER, ADWYER
NAIROBI FOR USAID/FFP- DSUTHER, ADEPREZ
ROME FOR USUN FODAG- RNEWBERG
GENEVA FOR NYKLOH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID EAGR PREF CG
SUBJECT: OFDA FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM IN SHABUNDA AND
MWENGA, SOUTH KIVU

REF: KINSHASA 452

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Summary
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1. (U) Over 100,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and
returnees in Shabunda and Mwenga have been receiving
USAID/OFDA food security assistance since 2003. The
program has helped returnees in the southern parts of
these territories reestablish their agricultural
activities. The program has had limited impact on
household food production, especially in the northern
parts of the territories, however, due to frequent
population displacements. Malnutrition remains high in
both territories. Cassava mosaic disease and a new banana
disease are quickly spreading throughout the territories
and might, if not urgently addressed, jeopardize food
security in the area. Future food security assistance
programs in the area should thus include distributions of
resistant cassava varieties. END SUMMARY

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Background
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2. (U) This is the second of two communications reporting
observations made by USAID/OFDA Rep Victor Bushamuka
during a March 22 - 29 visit to South Kivu. One of the
objectives of the visit was to assess the USAID/OFDA-
funded food security program implemented by Food for the
Hungry International (FHI). OFDA Rep visited program
beneficiaries and met with local authorities, humanitarian
actors, recently displaced people, and local residents in
Shabunda and Mwenga territories.


3. (U) Residents of Mwenga and Shabunda territories,
situated respectively at 60 miles southwest and 130 miles
west of Bukavu in South Kivu province, have consistently
been displaced since 1998, some more than once a year, due
to insecurity caused by armed groups including Mai Mai,
FDLR, and FARDC (reftel). While there were ongoing pockets
of insecurity in some areas, most of Shabunda and Mwenga
territories were observed to be relatively calm over the
past year and most displaced residents have returned.
However, security has greatly deteriorated in the northern
parts of the territories. This insecurity is caused by
retreating FDLR and Mai Mai elements fleeing MONUC/FARDC
forces in Bunyakiri and Kalonge in the territory of
Kalehe. As a result, many villages in northern Shabunda
and Mwenga are reported to be abandoned. Although the
number of these new IDPs has not yet been determined,
humanitarian actors in the areas believe it to be over
30,000.

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Malnutrition
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4. (U) Although reliable statistics on malnutrition in the
Shabunda and Mwenga territories do not exist, Doctors
Without Borders - Holland (MSF-H) has estimated the rates
in Shabunda health zone (HZ) for children under 5 years at
more than 15% for global acute malnutrition and around 5%
for severe acute cases. The senior physician of Kamituga
hospital believes the rates in Mwenga territory to be even
higher.


5. (U) Making the situation worse, malnutrition, which was
virtually unknown in these territories before the war, is
associated with extreme poverty. Many mothers of
malnourished children are ashamed of their situation and
therefore reluctant to seek medical help, a situation
humanitarians in the area have confirmed. Many residents
of Mwenga and Shabunda, however, said to OFDA Rep that
public perceptions are gradually changing as they see
children in villages dying from malnutrition. As a result,
willingness to bring children in for treatment is
increasing and it is now not uncommon in the territories
for mothers to travel as far as 70 miles to seek

KINSHASA 00000653 002 OF 003


assistance for their malnourished children.


6. (U) Both Shabunda and Mwenga have a feeding therapeutic
nutritional center (FTNC) at the general reference
hospital. The FTNC in Shabunda is supported by MSF-H while
that of Mwenga, which is in Kamituga town, receives
support from CARITAS. The FTNC in Shabunda registers on
average 50 new cases every month and that of Kamituga
receives 20 to 25 new malnutrition cases per month. Due to
their limited capacity, both FTNCs said that they
periodically have to turn away moderate cases and accept
only the most severe cases.

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FHI's Food Security Activities
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7. (U) FHI's food security activities in Shabunda and
Mwenga territories target IDPs, returnees, households with
malnourished children, and female victims of rape. The
program started in 2003 and has been assisting over 50,000
beneficiaries yearly per territory. FHI distributes basic
agricultural inputs including seeds and tools, and
provides basic training in vegetable crop production to
families of children admitted to the therapeutic feeding
centers.


8. (U) Beneficiaries of the program received seeds through
either direct distributions or seed fairs. Direct
distributions were conducted in areas with limited seeds
available that have known multiple displacements. Seed
fairs, on the other hand, were conducted in areas that had
previously benefited from the program and have started
producing their own seeds, but still have returnees or
IDPs not covered by previous distributions. FHI favors
seed fairs as they appear to stimulate the local economy
as new beneficiaries purchase seeds from local producers.


9. (U) FHI initiated seed multiplication and fish
production programs with community-based organizations
(CBO). These programs are designed to ensure that seeds
and fingerlings are available after the end of the
program. In these programs, seeds, tools, and fish are
provided to CBOs after they have received training in seed
multiplication procedures and fish production management.
In 2005, FHI provided assistance to 20 CBOs in seed
multiplication and to 4 CBOs in fish production per
territory.


10. (U) With the promotion both of fish farming and the
planting of high-protein crops (including soybeans,
peanuts and beans),FHI hopes to contribute to the
reduction of malnutrition in the area. FHI also
distributes a breeding pair of guinea pigs to families
with malnourished children after they have been discharged
from the FTNC to start small animal husbandry programs at
home. It is expected that guinea pigs will constitute a
valuable source of animal protein to the family.

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Program Implementation Challenges
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11. (U) Bean seeds distributed by FHI failed to grow in
some areas of the territories, frustrating beneficiaries
who felt that they wasted their energy to prepare the
fields. However, other areas visited by OFDA Rep that also
received the same seeds had flourishing bean fields. This
raises the question of variety adaptation in this vast
program area.


12. (U) The program also experienced a very low planting
rate of seeds as the beneficiaries ate most seeds
distributed. In some areas, many households planted only 2
kg of peanuts out of 10 kg of seeds received and 1 kg of
beans out of 5 kg of seeds received. This was because
seeds were distributed without seed protection food
packages at a time when beneficiaries had little to eat.
According to FHI, WFP was reluctant to provide seed
protection packages due to the high transport cost

KINSHASA 00000653 003 OF 003


involved. Shabunda and Mwenga are both accessible only by
plane and have limited capacity airstrips.

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New Challenges and Household Food Stocks
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13. (U) Cassava tubers are, by far, the most important
food for the majority of rural households and returnees in
DRC. In this regard, cassava production is the first
activity most returnees of Mwenga and Shabunda reestablish
upon their arriving back in their villages. Unfortunately,
many returning households complain of a widespread
infestation of cassava crops by the cassava mosaic
disease. Because of the disease, many households have
abandoned their fields. The abandoned cassava fields
visited by OFDA Rep were planted over six months ego, but
had only a few standing plants with no leaves left. Under
such conditions, no production can be expected from these
fields. The situation worries most of the villagers who
requested emergency assistance from OFDA in increasing
their access to disease-resistant cassava varieties.


14. (U) Banana, another important crop in the diet of the
population of Mwenga and Shabunda, is also attacked by a
disease not yet scientifically identified. FHI's staff in
the field said that the problem has spread throughout
program areas. According to recent returnees, the disease
kills infected plants within a month after symptoms
appear. They indicated that the disease was not present in
the area when they first fled in 1998, but dead and sick
plants were observed in villages when people began
returning in 2003. Although people are concerned about the
problem, the banana disease is not considered by most
households as serious a threat to their food security as
cassava mosaic virus.


15. (U) March is normally the end of the major crop
harvesting period in the area and the time when household
food stocks are the highest. However, only a few
households visited by the OFDA Rep had significant stocks
of food and seeds. Many attributed the lack of food stocks
to looting of their crops during one of their last
displacements. Others simply did not plant in the previous
agricultural season because of insecurity in the fields or
lack of seeds.

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Observations and Recommendations
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16. (U) Although FHI has contributed to the improvement of
food security of returnees in southern Shabunda and Mwenga
territories through the USAID/OFDA-funded program, the
work in northern parts of the territories is far from
complete. Many households continue to be displaced and to
abandon their agricultural fields.


17. (U) OFDA Rep suggested to the technical staff of FHI
that area-specific agro-ecological conditions within the
territory be carefully considered when selecting seeds for
distribution. To reduce seed consumption when lacking seed
protection packages, OFDA Rep recommended distributing the
quantity of seeds based on the size of the field pre-
prepared by households. This would require that
agricultural tool distribution occur long before that of
seed distribution to allow sufficient time for field
preparation.


18. (U) Future food security assistance projects in
Shabunda and Mwenga need to consider among program
priorities the distribution of disease-resistant cassava
varieties. This highlights the need for coordination with
the USAID-funded program on the multiplication and
distribution of mosaic resistant cassava varieties
implemented by the South Eastern Consortium for
International Development (SECID) in the DRC, which USAID
will explore.
DOUGHERTY