IRIN – Failed rains in northern Burundi have left tens of thousands of people needing food aid and prompted many to seek work in neighbouring Rwanda to earn enough to feed their families.

Some 35,710 households (about 180,000 people) in Kirundo province require food and seeds, according to government officials and UN agencies*, who last week visited the province.

“It is clear that the population of the communes of Busoni, Bugabira and part of Kirundo face a food shortage that can even worsen if nothing is done,” said Floribert Kubwayezu of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Charles Dei, the humanitarian coordinator in Burundi, who also serves as country director of the World Food Programme (WFP), told IRIN that the lack of rain had adversely affected the January bean and maize harvest. This season accounts for 35 percent of Burundi’s total food production.

Read more – http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88209

IRIN – Economic conditions in most southern African countries declined as a result of the global recession, pushing many more people towards greater food insecurity. According to a new food security update which focused on some southern African countries, food prices have risen and are still climbing in several countries.

The price of most fertilizers doubled in 2008 and continued to rise through 2009, affecting the quantity of crops planted throughout the region. High input costs prompted many governments to either extend their input subsidy programme or consider implementing one.

Here is a snapshot of food security in the region, based on an update compiled by the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

Read more – http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88014

“Investing in children and securing their rights is one of the surest ways to ending poverty,” U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told 1,500 students at the United Nations International School in New York City Friday as part of the Stand Up Take Action Campaign organised by the U.N. Millennium Campaign.

Over the weekend of Oct. 16 to 18, millions of people around the globe used the occasions of World Food Day and World Anti-Poverty Day to push their leaders harder to meet longstanding pledges for every human being to have the essentials of a decent life, such as housing and clean drinking water.

In a bitter irony, World Food Day should be called ‘No Food Day’ for almost one of every six people in the world this year, said World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Josette Sheeran.

With just six years left until the deadline by which heads of state have pledged to reduce extreme poverty by half, Salil Shetty, director of the U.N. Millennium Campaign, says that Stand Up is a stark reminder that citizens “do not accept excuses for governments breaking promises to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens”.

Last year, more than 116 million people participated in the Stand Up action, breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest mobilisation of human beings in recorded history.

Facilitated by Skype and Ustream to connect global citizens in the campaign, this year organisers aimed to exceed that number.

In India, campaigners took the streets to demand functional health centres in every village, town and county; in Nigeria, thousands of people at music concerts by Sarah Mitaru and Femi Kuti signed a petition demanding accountability and transparency from their government in order to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In South Korea, thousands demonstrated calling on their government to increase overseas aid; in Egypt, worshipers in more than 5,000 mosques and churches stood up during Friday sermons and Sunday Masses.

Read more – http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48908

Aid from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) reached 1.3 million Somalis in the war-wracked Horn of Africa nation last month, but funding shortfalls prevented the agency from assisting millions more in need, it was announced today.

Over 22,000 metric tons of food were distributed, but with less than half of funds needed received, WFP was forced to scale back its operations, making it unable to reach all 3 million Somalis with 48,000 metric tons of food than the agency had hoped to.

WFP urgently needs a nearly $200 million influx to allow it to feed 3.3 million Somalis through next April.

Over the past week, the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) partnered with a local organization to distribute hundreds of hygiene kits, including soap and towels, to people living in a settlement for internally displaced persons (IDPs) outside of the war-battered capital, Mogadishu, which has experienced escalated fighting in recent months.

Read more – http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32491&Cr=somali&Cr1=