WFP appeals for aid

The World Food Programme (WFP) has launched a US $1.3-million emergency food operation to help feed some 30,000 Cape Verdeans who face hunger, WFP said on Thursday. The emergency operation will target mainly vulnerable groups such as households headed by women, handicapped persons and elderly people. Most of the targeted beneficiaries live on the islands of Santiago and Santo Antao. These are the largest and most populous islands in Cape Verde, a very arid Sahelian archipelago 600 km west of Senegal. WFP's appeal followed a request from the government, the first such request in more than 20 years. The appeal also came after a food assessment showed that many families had already consumed their seed reserves and had none left to sow in the June-July planting season, WFP said from its regional headquarters in Dakar, Senegal. "Unless food distributions commence immediately, the next harvest will be in jeopardy as well," WFP said. Cape Verde, a "structurally food insecure country", is prone to food shortages since it can only produce about 10 percent of its food requirements each year. It gets the rest of its food through bilateral food aid donations and imports, WFP said.