Ambrosio Spinola
01-01-2006, 03:20 PM
I hear from here the clamors for more free outs as Europe tries somehow to stop the inmigration flow.
http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-01T120541Z_01_BAN143626_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-AFRICA-FOOD-20060101.XML&archived=False
NAIROBI (Reuters) - East African leaders said on Sunday that millions of people in the region faced hunger because poor rains had affected vital crops and pasture, giving their New Year messages a sombre tone.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said a famine facing the region's biggest economy was a national disaster and at least 10 percent of the country's 32 million people would need foreign and local food aid.
"In the next six months, up to 2.5 million people will be in need of famine relief," Kibaki told guests attending New Year celebrations broadcast on state television. Eleven billion Kenya shillings will be needed to meet their needs, he added.
In tiny coffee-growing Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza lowered taxes on food imports to help feed thousands of poor rural farmers.
"Regarding the hunger which affects some regions of the country, the government has decided to reduce tax on imported food from 30 percent to 5 percent," Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader elected in August, said in his New Year message.
He also announced the release of prisoners who have served a quarter of their sentence to ease congestion in prison, though those jailed for crimes such as rape and assassination would not be freed. But he promised to release political prisoners soon, after a commission studying the issue has completed its report.
Burundi is recovering from a 12-year conflict between the Hutu majority and the minority Tutsi elite in which more than 300,000 people were killed.
In neighbouring Tanzania, newly elected President Jakaya Kikwete described the food situation as precarious and urged Tanzanians to use the available food wisely.
"The rains have not been sufficient to meet our agricultural requirements," he said. "Rains in areas which normally get adequate rains starting in October came late, and when they did come, they were below normal."
Kikwete, sworn in on December 21, decried the fact that food prices had shot up partly because of unmonitored cross-border grain exports to Zambia and Malawi.
The government had said 613,000 people would need 21,500 tonnes of food aid between November 2005 and February 2006. But Kikwete said both figures could rise because of poor rains.
The U.S-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) has warned that millions of people in Ethiopia and Somalia also face acute food shortages as a result of poor rains.
http://za.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-01-01T120541Z_01_BAN143626_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-AFRICA-FOOD-20060101.XML&archived=False
NAIROBI (Reuters) - East African leaders said on Sunday that millions of people in the region faced hunger because poor rains had affected vital crops and pasture, giving their New Year messages a sombre tone.
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said a famine facing the region's biggest economy was a national disaster and at least 10 percent of the country's 32 million people would need foreign and local food aid.
"In the next six months, up to 2.5 million people will be in need of famine relief," Kibaki told guests attending New Year celebrations broadcast on state television. Eleven billion Kenya shillings will be needed to meet their needs, he added.
In tiny coffee-growing Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza lowered taxes on food imports to help feed thousands of poor rural farmers.
"Regarding the hunger which affects some regions of the country, the government has decided to reduce tax on imported food from 30 percent to 5 percent," Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader elected in August, said in his New Year message.
He also announced the release of prisoners who have served a quarter of their sentence to ease congestion in prison, though those jailed for crimes such as rape and assassination would not be freed. But he promised to release political prisoners soon, after a commission studying the issue has completed its report.
Burundi is recovering from a 12-year conflict between the Hutu majority and the minority Tutsi elite in which more than 300,000 people were killed.
In neighbouring Tanzania, newly elected President Jakaya Kikwete described the food situation as precarious and urged Tanzanians to use the available food wisely.
"The rains have not been sufficient to meet our agricultural requirements," he said. "Rains in areas which normally get adequate rains starting in October came late, and when they did come, they were below normal."
Kikwete, sworn in on December 21, decried the fact that food prices had shot up partly because of unmonitored cross-border grain exports to Zambia and Malawi.
The government had said 613,000 people would need 21,500 tonnes of food aid between November 2005 and February 2006. But Kikwete said both figures could rise because of poor rains.
The U.S-based Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) has warned that millions of people in Ethiopia and Somalia also face acute food shortages as a result of poor rains.