Due to food shortages in the northern provinces of Burundi, the Episcopal Church in Burundi and the Union of Baptist Churches in Burundi, will soon start distributing 130 tonnes of bean seed to 10,000 families, according the Christian Aid.

Beans are not only one of the staple foods in Burundi, but they don’t take long to be harvested, which applies to the urgency of food in the country. The seed distribution will be accompanied by a food ration from the World Food Programme.

President Pierre Nkurunziza declared famine in five provinces: Muyinga and Cankuzo in the northeast; Ngozi and Kirundo in the north; and Rutana in the southeast.

The Burundian government set up a fund, known as the National Solidarity for Food Security, through which civil servants, private companies and individuals can contribute money to feed hundreds of thousands of people who are facing food shortages.

Recurrent droughts and a change in agricultural seasons caused by an increasingly inconsistent rainy season are becoming the norm. Christian Aid is looking into ways that it can help people develop sustainable livelihoods in this context of changing agricultural seasons and climatic fluctuations.

While more than 80% of the population in Burundi is dependant on agriculture and livestock, many crops were hit by disease in 2005 as a result of little rainfall. The whole country has been affected and hunger is widespread.

The food situation in the north, centre and east of Burundi is critical, having less rainfall year on year since 2000. There is also a shortage of land for the number of people.

”Food stores are empty. Stomachs even emptier,” says Robert Abel, Christian Aid’s country representative in Burundi.

The lack of food has increased levels of malnutrition and according to the UN the deaths of more than a hundred people.