Minimal food security outcomes expected to persist during lean season

Household and market level food stocks are likely to remain largely adequate, supported by average Season C (June-September) production, until the next major harvest in December-January. As a result, Minimal (IPC Phase 1) outcomes are expected to persist through January. However, in localized areas of Bugesera and Rusizi districts where crop production in May-June was below average, some poor households may face Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes during the October-November lean season if they are unable to engage in the farm labor and various public works income-earning opportunities that exist. 

Staple food prices remained rather stable in August though tuber prices in Kigali reportedly increased by 15 percent from the end of August to the end of September due to lower supplies. The September-December rainy season has begun and the forecast is for average rainfall; however, there is some concern that a current shortage of good quality bean and maize seeds may delay planting or cause farmers to use lower quality seeds.

The 2017 Burundi Regional Refugee Response Program continues to be severely underfunded, with UNHCR reporting in August an 84 percent cumulative funding gap for Rwanda. WFP, which provides food assistance to about 55,000 Burundian refugees living in Mahama Camp in Kirehe District, and expects a surge of DRC asylum seekers, has also reported funding shortfalls. In the presence of humanitarian assistance, the Burundian refugees in Kirehe continue to face Stressed (IPC Phase 2!) outcomes.