Period 1943-1944 Location Ruanda-Urundi | Total deaths 36,000-50,000 | |
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Country Ruanda-Urundi
(modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) Consequences Mass emigration to surrounding countries; political destabilisation | ||
The Ruzagayura famine of 1943-44 was a major famine which occurred in the Belgian mandate of Ruanda-Urundi (modern-day Rwanda and Burundi) during World War II. It led to a large number of deaths and a huge population migration out of the territory and into the neighbouring Belgian Congo and surrounding areas. The famine is considered to have begun in October 1943 and ended in December 1944.
The principal cause of the famine was several prolonged periods of drought in the region in early 1943. However, the problem was exacerbated by attempts of the colonial authorities to send agricultural produce to the Belgian Congo, as part of the Allied war effort, in the Second World War.
The colonial administration, together with Christian missionaries, began to transport food to a supply point in Usumbura. The Rwandan king, Mutara III Rudahigwa, sent aid to the affected region.
By the time the famine ended in December 1944, between 36,000 and 50,000 people (between ⅕ to ⅓ of the total regional population) died of hunger in the territory.
Several hundred thousand people emigrated away from Ruanda-Urundi, most to the Belgian Congo but also to British Uganda. The migration also served to create further political instability in the areas affected by the mass influx of Rwandans.