Already suffering the effects of a seven-year civil war, the people of northern Burundi are now facing hunger after four years of poor harvests. Around the town of Busoni, around 130 miles north of the capital in Kirundo province, crowds of children with clear signs of malnutrition walk through dried-up sorghum fields that haven't received a drop of rain for three months. We are not sure if we will get anything. Once a wealthy family of peasants who produced a surplus of food, Banyansekera at best has just half a kilo of beans to share each day among her family of eight. Evarist Kagimbangabo, the head of the local administration, said six people had died from the effects of hunger in recent weeks.
People plant, but they get no harvest.
If no one intervenes, by the end of July many more people will be dying. The U.N.'s World Food Program estimates that at least 350,000 people from Kirundo's population of 550,000 have been put at risk by the drought. Significant amounts of food will be needed. In Busoni's once-bustling market, a few hawkers selling beans look for business. But the beans have quadrupled in price over the last few months, and few people can afford to buy.