THE UN World Food Programme (WFP) appealed to donors on Tuesday for $69-million in emergency aid to feed the more than 2,6-million people starving in southern Africa, warning that the food crisis was deepening.
”It is extremely clear that a major crisis is on the horizon. Now is the time to act to prevent what is now a crisis from developing into a major disaster,” Judith Lewis, the WFP’s director for east and southern Africa, said in a statement.
The WFP said it required $69-million to purchase 145 866 tons of food aid but the response from Western donors had so far been ”sluggish”.
”Much more must be swiftly done to stave off the spread of hunger and malnutrition,” Lewis said.
Drought, floods, economic hardship and the high price of
imported staple food had left millions in Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe relying on handouts, the WFP said.
In Zambia, last year’s floods and this year’s drought had left 1,3-million people facing hunger, yet only 40% of the 19-million dollars sought by WFP for food aid has been received.
The country faced the further burden of feeding some 117 000 refugees from Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who have been on half-rations since January due to a shortage of food aid, the WFP said.
For Zimbabwe, donors have contributed only 30% of the $60-million required to feed more than half a million starving people, who could run out of food by July, it added. The number of people needing food aid in Zimbabwe was set to rise, according to the WFP. Food shortages in Zimbabwe are blamed on
a controversial land reform scheme, drought and economic hardships.
In Malawi the price of the staple food, maize, had soared by as
much as 500% but the WFP said there had not been any
contributions to its appeals for $4,2-million in emergency
aid to feed some 255 000 people.
”The situation for people all over southern Africa is very
bleak,” said Lewis. – Sapa-AFP