THE Namibian government said on Monday it would provide food relief to more than 21 000 San families living in the country’s northeastern Caprivi region, which has been ravaged by a famine. Emergency Management Unit Deputy Director Gabriel Kangouua said 537 tonnes of food would be distributed from about 160 points in the region in a food relief programme that would run for three months. The humanitarian operation was triggered by widespread concerns that thousands of San families are facing starvation. Kangouua said three months of relief should be enough to assist families while they waited to harvest their seasonal maize and sorghum crops. The San also depend on bush food – such as berries, monkey oranges, roots and tubers – for their survival, but have been hampered from collecting these staples by the presence of suspected Angolan rebels in the border region. – AFP