WFP FEARS FAMINE IN NORTHEAST CAR, PROBLEM MAY BE MORE WIDE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGUI 000190

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/C
USUN FOR DMUERS
PARIS FOR RKANEDA
LONDON FOR PLORD
NAIROBI FOR AKARAS
AFRICOM FOR JKUGEL
INR FOR CNEARY
DRL FOR SCRAMPTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR CT
SUBJECT: WFP FEARS FAMINE IN NORTHEAST CAR, PROBLEM MAY BE MORE WIDE
SPREAD

REF: A - 09 BANGUI 152 AND PREVIOUS

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1.(U) SUMMARY: An August 20 assessment visit to by the World
Food Program (WFP) to Birao has determined that recent civil
strife in the Vakaga region of the Central African Republic
(CAR) has severely affected the food and livelihood security for
the entire population and all humanitarian indicators are in
decline. As the situation currently stands, the 15,000 displaced
people (IDPs) in and around Birao will not have food from
September 2009 until the start of 2010. Due to the necessity of
using costly air transport during the rainy season to move
prepositioned food supplies to Birao, the WFP anticipates a $2
million shortfall in funds. Post fears that this report may
underestimate the scope of the problem. There are similar
problems looming in the southwest, near the second largest city
in the CAR and in the extreme southeast, due to LRA activity.
END SUMMARY.

2.(U) The Ambassador traveled to Birao, the provincial capital
of the Vakaga, on August 20, 2009 to assess humanitarian
conditions, as the guest of the World Food Program. Inter-ethnic
rivalry over natural resources and political control in June
2009(Ref A) left over 30 dead and forced nearly half of the
population to flee the town. Fear of further violence and
sporadic reprisals by the warring factions has left the region
in a fragile state. The WFP believes its estimate of 15,000
displaced persons to be conservative as they and their partner
organizations have not been able to travel farther than the
outskirts of Birao.

3.(U) The WFP originally counted on feeding 3,000 IDPs through
December 2009, but the violence of June has radically changed
the situation. The fivefold increase of food dependent people
means that that by September the WFP will have depleted their
stocks in Birao. Additionally, the violence of June impeded the
planting of the crops, compounding the threat of famine. (The
next harvest will not be until November 2010.) Compounding the
disaster is the lack of ground transport to and within the
region due to the rainy season. Birao is virtually an island as
the laterite and dirt roads cannot support heavy ground
transport from Bangui or Sudan and thus only air transport can
bring in food supplies.


4. (U) The WFP currently has 4,000 metric tons of food in the
CAR with approximately the same quantity en route. Birao
requires 1,000 metric tons to meet its current needs, but
current weather and road conditions require airlift until the
rains relent in December/January. The WFP is currently writing a
proposal for a contractor to deliver the food but do not have
the two million dollars that it would cost to hire them.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: These numbers are only preliminary and the
problem may be much worse and more widespread.
-- Post notes that humanitarian agencies have numbers on Birao
only; they simply have no information on the Goula tribe center
of Tirangulu or the Rounga area near Sikikede. Beyond the
Vakaga, Post fears that the situation may be similar around
Ndele.

-- Also in the north the UN has recently reported food problems
in Kabo. We expect that due to the well established NGO
community in the Paoua area, the situation is not as severe
there.

-- Reports of malnutrition from the Berberati/Carnot area in the
southwest are likewise alarming.

-- Post has previously reported on the food needs due to LRA
activity in the southeast.


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We are launching a major effort to develop a comprehensive
understanding of the scale of the problem. END COMMENT.
COOK