provinces of Zaire and Uige have alsobeen affected, but to a lesser degree.

The government unveiled a farm aidscheme in March, offering new seeds totry to recover lost production. Authori-ties also promised to launch irrigationprojects, and to re-finance farm loans.The plans called for ‘‘distribution offood and farm goods, as well as provid-ing water by cisterns’’.

Over the long term, Angola wants tostop growing tubers, which consumelots of water, with plants less depen-dent on rains.

Jelembi’s group supports these mea-sures, but he said the government ‘‘sys-tematically launches projects ill-suitedto the needs and abilities of local com-munities. (� AFP, Luanda 6 ⁄ 5 2012)

DROUGHT AND FAMINEThe Malian Exodus

Aid efforts are increasingly understrain as refugee numbers mount.16m people across the Sahel are fac-ing hunger.

Sahelian governments and local andinternational aid groups are struggling

to cope with both the continual arrivalsof people fleeing the regions of Gao,Timbuktu and Kidal in northern Mali,and the mounting number of hungrypeople across the region as the leanseason gets underway, the UN’shumanitarian news agency, IRIN,reported (4 ⁄ 5).Altogether some 284,000 Malians havefled the north according to the UNOffice for the Coordination of Humani-tarian Affairs (OCHA), 107,000 ofthem thought to be displaced withinMali; 177,000 in neighbouring coun-tries. New arrivals have pushed refugeenumbers to 56,664 in Burkina Faso andto 61,000 in Mauritania, and to 39,388in Niger, according to UNHCR. Thesegovernments are already struggling toget aid to millions of their inhabitants,who are facing hunger due to drought.

The UN estimates that 16m peopleacross the Sahel are facing hunger, andhunger levels are rising as the lean sea-son gets fully underway. Familiesacross the Sahel are also experiencing asignificant loss of income as hundredsof thousands of Mauritanians, Burkina-bes and Malians fled conflict in Libya,bringing a halt to the remittances theyregularly sent.

This complex mix of slow and fast-onset crises means the UN will be revis-ing or launching new funding appealsfrom the current US$1bn to $1.5bn, theOCHA in Dakar said.

Donors have given or pledgedUS$750m in aid, most of it for food ornutrition needs, which many in thechronically underfunded region wel-come as a strong response, but mount-

ing demands will make this just half ofthe total necessary.

The World Food Programme (WFP)alone needs $360m to bridge its imme-diate funding gap, having received justover half of the US$790m it requiresfor the Sahel so far, said Claude Jibi-dar, deputy director of WFP in WestAfrica. The agency desperately needscash so that it can start buying food inregional markets, he said.

In early May most food sectorsremained severely underfunded. TheNiger cluster appeal is only 7% fundedfor protection activities, 19% for waterand sanitation, and has received nofunding at all for education.

UNHCR will also be upping its Sahelrefugee appeal beyond the $35.6mrequested, of which just 41 % has beenreceived. UNHCR spokesperson Fatou-mata Lejeune-Kaba said refugee campsin Burkina Faso and Mauritania willneed to be expanded to keep up withthe growing numbers.

Country by Country

Mali: The UN estimates 107,000 IDPs,with 75,000 staying in the north. Sev-eral aid agencies, including CatholicRelief Services (CRS), are divertingpart of their aid response intended forthe north to help IDPs who have fledsouth to Mopti in central Mali, or Ba-mako, the capital.

WFP plans to support 200,000 IDPsand host families with food aid, butthere are fears for the estimated 75,000in the north. Some NGOs have goodaccess across northern regions, butUNHCR says the situation is still con-sidered too insecure.

Aid agencies in northern Mali aredebating how or whether they shouldnegotiate with newly installed rebelgroups such as the National Movementfor the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA)and Ansar Dine, which is affiliated toAl Qaeda, to reach people in need.

There are layers of complexity. Agen-cies have divergent approaches tosecuring humanitarian access – somerefuse to use armed escorts under anycircumstances, others see them as nec-essary in extreme situations; some USagencies cannot negotiate with terror-ist-affiliated groups, others are alreadydoing so, said IRIN (1 ⁄ 5).

Mauritania: Most of the 61,000 Ma-lians sheltering in Mbera camp, nearthe town of Fassala in southeasternMauritania, come from Timbuktu, overwhich Ansar Dine claims control. Oth-ers come from the towns of Niaki,Guargandou, Tenekou and Goundamin the Timbuktu region, according toUNHCR, which says it needs $18m to

Comoros

Corruption Exposure Silenced: ReportersWithout Borders (RSF) has criticised thesuspension of Al Watwan editor after thenewspaper printed a special supplementon corruption and waste in the state sec-tor.

RSF recalled that President Ikililou Dho-inine in 2011 had urged Comorianreporters to ‘‘conduct investigative jour-nalism’’ into the corruption ‘‘afflictingthe country’’. He also professed a ‘‘deter-mination to ensure that, during my termof office, no journalists are deprived oftheir freedom because of their opinions.’’

One of its articles, an extract of whichwas published by AFP, condemned‘‘criminal practices’’ in the managementof the state’s finances. It quoted an audi-tor as saying the situation allowed thegovernment to ‘‘continue paying invoicesfor equipment that was not delivered andfor work that was never carried out’’.(RSF, Paris 11 ⁄ 4)Torrential Rains: The archipelago wasbattered by torrential rains for more thana week in late April and 11,000 peoplehad ‘‘lost everything’’, officials said onApril 26th. Civil protection officialIsmael Mouigni Daho said the situationon the islands was ‘‘dramatic’’ and rescu-ers were hampered in their efforts to bringmedical relief because of road blockages.

In the capital Moroni, about a dozencommunities were without drinking waterafter a pumping station was flooded.(�AFP, Moroni 26 ⁄ 4)

DR Congo

Economist to Lead Government

President Joseph Kabila has appointedFinance Minister Augustin MatataPonyo as his new prime minister.

Mr Matata is a respected financial expertcredited with stabilising the country’seconomy. The appointment ends fivemonths of deadlock after polls criticisedfor widespread irregularities.

Mr Matata’s first job will be to draw upa budget for the government.

Since becoming finance minister in 2010,he has attracted praise from the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF). He ran a$12bn (£7.4bn) debt reduction agreementwith international creditors, which wasseen as the main achievement of Presi-dent Kabila’s first term in office.

Analysts say securing the mineral-richeast of the country is also important forthe economy – militias still roam the areadespite attempts by the UN and army todisarm them. (BBC news online 19 ⁄ 4)

April 16th–May 15th 2012 Africa Research Bulletin – 19513

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� Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2012.