Thousands to receive food in Tonkolili district

More than 17,500 needy people in Lower Yoni chiefdom in Tonkolili district, over 100 km east of Freetown, are to receive a one-month emergency food aid ration, according to a WFP news release issued on Wednesday. "Recent assessments showed that more than half of the 34,000 people living in Lower Yoni had little or no access to food, as most farmers were prevented from planting last year," said Patrick Buckley, WFP Representative in Sierra Leone. "Our aim is to support vulnerable families, encouraging them to resume farming," he added. Lower Yoni chiefdom was severely affected by last year's fighting and remained inaccessible to humanitarian agencies for much of last year. Due to low level harvests and mass looting of already scarce food supplies, people in many of the chiefdoms in Tonkolili are exposed to a high risk of food shortages, WFP said. Some 270 mt of food in nine distribution centres throughout Lower Yoni chiefdom will be handed out by WFP in collaboration with CARE and local NGO partners, WFP said.