OTTAWA – Like grain futures on a commodity exchange, Canada’s efforts to feed the hungry refugees of Zaire have had their ups and downs in recent days.
A high point came last Wednesday when federal agriculture minister Ralph Goodale used a speech at the world food summit in Rome to announce Canada’s decision to lead a humanitarian effort into the starvation and refugee crisis of eastern Zaire and Rwanda.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people, maybe more, literally eating leaves to stay alive,” Goodale said during a moment he likely will not soon forget.
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“Canada is doing this because we believe someone has to step forward and take the lead and to do so now. When that comment was made, it sparked a spontaneous ovation from all the delegates in attendance,” he said.
Just days later, with an international agreement for a rescue force in place, hundreds of thousands of refugees previously trapped in Zaire started an exodus of biblical proportions across the border, back home to Rwanda.
The refugee flood, welcomed by aid agencies, also threw the relief effort into chaos. Plans to move tonnes of food into Zaire this week quickly were dropped in favor of trying to figure out how to get food to villages and communes in Rwanda.
“We have had to completely change the strategy,” World Food Program official Patricia Clough said in a Nov. 18 interview from Rome headquarters.
The United Nations agency was not asking for more food.
She said more than 70,000 tonnes of food were in the area. The issue is getting it to the people in need.
“Food is not the issue at all,” said Clough.
In Winnipeg at the offices of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, Trish Jordan begged to differ.
“There is about a two month supply but it is a much bigger problem,” she said. “This is a long-term problem.”
She said recent aid efforts almost always are complicated because hunger is caused by war and displacement, rather than by a lack of food production.
In recent months, churches which are members of the Canada Foodgrains Bank have pledged 9,000 tonnes of lentils and vegetable oil to the area.
The confusion on the ground in Rwanda is a concern.
“We get donations from farmers all across the Prairies,” said Jordan. “They are contributing because they think the food they are giving will get to people who need it. It is a concern for us if we cannot be sure that is happening.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian government Monday vowed to continue leading the international relief force, pledging $15 million for medical and relief supplies and continuing to be one of the largest supporters of the World Food Program. This year, it donated $60 million to the UN agency.
Goodale said it is a continuation of Canada’s heritage.
It is making 400,000 tonnes of food aid available this year, as it has in the past.
