The persistent drought in the southern region has left hundreds of starving residents queuing for food aid. Last Monday, 882 families from Mugombwa Sector, Gisagara District, were offered food supplies including 1,267 tons of maize and beans, and 6,000 tonnes of cooking oil.

The relief was handed over by State Minister for Social Affairs, Christine Nyatanyi, to the starving group that included the elderly, children and the handicapped, who are the most vulnerable to the food crisis. The government also plans to offer relief to 400 people through Food for Work and Food for Cash programmes, according to Nyatanyi. She advised residents to construct granaries where food can be stored.

She said the government has launched its countrywide relief programme from the southern province since it was found to be hard hit by draught and famine. Residents were also advised to join micro finance schemes in order to set up income-generating projects and urged to adopt a culture of saving.

Nyatanyi was accompanied by Eraste Kabera, the governor of the southern region, who encouraged the residents to desist from engaging in farming activities instead of wasting time running away to self-imposed exile.

It is said hunger in Mugombwa Sector resulted from the fleeing of residents to neighbouring Burundi before cultivating their gardens.