Food Aid to the African Countries through the World Food Programme (WFP)

December 16, 2005

The Government of Japan has decided to extend food aid totaling 940 million yen (approximately US$7.9 million) through the World Food Programme (WFP) to refugees and internally displaced persons of countries facing a serious food crisis in a transitional stage from conflict to peace, such as Burundi and Rwanda in the Great Lakes region, and also Sierra Leone. Notes to this effect were exchanged on December 16 (Fri) in Rome between Mr. Nozomu Takaoka, Japanese Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to Italy, and Ms. Sheila Sisulu, Deputy Executive Director of the WFP.

The breakdown of this assistance is as follows:

(1) For internally displaced persons and refugees in Burundi	(170 million yen)
(2) For internally displaced persons and refugees in Rwanda	(180 million yen)
(3) For refugees and conflict- afflicted people in Tanzania	(310 million yen)
(4) For internally displaced persons and refugees in Sierra Leone	(170 million yen)
(5) For vulnerable persons in the Republic of Congo	(110 million yen)

The stability of the Great Lakes region could have a great influence on that of the whole of Africa. In Burundi, in which a peace agreement was reached in 2000, a presidential election was held in August 2005 and the transition to a full-democratic government was accomplished. As the country has begun to move toward reconstruction and nation building, its consolidation of peace is at a critical phase. In such a situation, refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda and returnees from Tanzania are suffering from hunger. Rwanda, though there still remain the scars of the 1994 massacre, has entered a full-scale rehabilitation stage, but as its agricultural infrastructure has been greatly damaged, refugees and the socially vulnerable population are faced with a serious food shortage. Tanzania is now one of the world's largest host country of refugees, having as many as 600,000 of them from Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As these refugees cannot engage in such productive activities as farming, the WFP has been distributing food to 390,000 refugees from a humanitarian point of view.
In Sierra Leone, there have been sporadic armed confrontations since 1991. However, with a U.N. mission dispatched in 2002, 700,000 combatants including child soldiers were disarmed and 270,000 returned refugees were resettled by 2005. On the other hand, large population are suffering from chronic food shortage. Provision of food to residents is a crucial task in alleviating their anxieties. During the conflict, food and weapons given to residents by the rebels using conflict diamond have fueled the conflict, thus delaying its resolution. The peace process in the Republic of Congo has also been making progress since the outbreak of the conflict in 1997, but there are still incidents of armed clash between the government forces and militias. Thus, the country that can self-supply only 3% of its domestic food consumption, is suffering from hunger caused by drought and other reasons.

In such a situation, responding to appeals issued by the WFP, Japan has decided to provide through the WFP necessary funds to purchase rice, wheat, corn- soybean blend, from a humanitarian viewpoint as well as to stabilize the region and support its rehabilitation.
Throughout the world, 840 million people are suffering from food shortage because of conflict and such natural disasters as drought. More than 10 million people die every year of starvation or diseases caused by malnutrition. In other wards there are more people in the world dying of starvation or malnutrition than those who are killed in war. As freeing the world of hunger is an important task that the world should tackle in concert, Japan wishes to make significant contribution to the challenge in cooperation with the international community. In 2005, the African continent went through a series of ordeals; serious food crises in the southern and western Africa, and food shortages suffered in unstable transitional countries such as Sudan, Sierra Leone and those in the Great Lakes region. In the light of extent of hardship African countries went through, Japan has concentrated its effort providing food aid to Africa this year. As a result, total food aid which Japan decided to provide in 2005 to African courtiers amounts to 12.2 billion yen (approximately US$114.4 million) including 5.2 billion yen (approximately US$49.3 million) extended through the WFP.
It is hoped that the food aid will alleviate food shortage and contribute to stability in the area. The food aid is part of Japan's commitment to Africa announced by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi at the Asia-Africa Summit Meeting held in April this year in Indonesia.

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