ANGOLA: WFP forced to prioritise food deliveries

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

ANGOLA: WFP forced to prioritise food deliveries

JOHANNESBURG, 8 May (IRIN) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has started
distributing food aid to thousands of severely malnourished people who are
being discovered in areas of Angola now open to aid workers after last
month's peace agreement.

A WFP statement on Wednesday said a "frantic crowd" of more than 10,000
people in the remote village of Bunjei, Huila Province, greeted the arrival
of 15 WFP trucks carrying food rations which are supposed to last for one
month. The vehicles arrived last week loaded with maize, corn soya blend,
vegetable oil, salt and sugar. They had travelled 130 km from Huambo along
precarious roads to make the delivery.

This is the first aid that the desperate people, mostly women and children,
have received for many years, the statement said.

"We are finding people suffering extreme hunger and malnutrition in the
interior of the country," said Ronald Sibanda, WFP Country Director for
Angola. "WFP is already making arrangements to start feeding programmes in
new areas." These include Chipindo, Huila Province, and Sanza Pombo, Uige
Province.

Since the recent improvement in security in Angola, WFP is gaining access to
a greater number of hungry and malnourished people who have been cut off
from help.

However, WFP food supplies for some one million people currently being fed
in Angola are running out, with stocks reaching dangerously low levels. This
comes at a critical time, just when the number of hungry people is soaring,
the agency warned.

"We have no choice but to reduce rations for some groups of people to make
sure we can feed others who are more desperate," said Sibanda. "It is
absolutely vital that new donations are made urgently."

WFP requires US $52 million in order to cope with both the current and extra
caseloads for the next six months, the statement said. With the present
stock levels, some essential food commodities will start to run out in June
and July, and by September, there will be no food available.

[ENDS]

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