/ 14 October 2003

Sweden aids in Southern African food crisis

Swedish foreign aid agency Sida has pledged to contribute 45-million kronor (about R42-million) to bolster the United Nations’s efforts to deliver food in Southern Africa.

The agency said that the situation in Southern Africa, particularly in Zimbabwe and parts of Mozambique, has deteriorated because of a crucial need for money to pay for more food aid.

”The crisis is one of the most serious catastrophes in modern times when it comes to size, length and complexity. The most exposed people who today are dependent on food deliveries for their survival now risk having very hard times until the next harvest,” said Johan Schaar, head of Sida’s unit for humanitarian aid.

”Normally Sida avoids giving support to food distribution because we think that it gives short-term solutions to long-term problems, but this time we judge the situation to be so serious that support to food aid is motivated,” Schaar said.

About 10% of Sida’s 11,3-billion kronor budget is earmarked for acute humanitarian efforts. — Sapa-AP