WFP readies for logistical challenge

In the wake of the start of the US-led retaliatory attacks on Taliban-held Afghanistan on Sunday, the WFP country representative for Iran, Marius de Gaay Fortman told IRIN on Wednesday that the challenge of getting food aid into Afghanistan now was nothing short of daunting. On Tuesday evening, the first convoy of five trucks carrying 100 mt of UK-donated wheat flour arrived in the western Afghan city of Herat, opening the way for similar operations from Iran. "I don't think we have ever had this kind of scenario," de Gaay Fortman said in the Iranian capital, Tehran. "It's worse than Somalia has ever been, and more difficult than Sudan." Security risks are his primary concern, followed by communications. "I wonder whether we have been exposed to as great a challenge as this one," he said. "From one day to another, we are being confronted with almost a quadrupling of the requirements," he said. WFP needs to bring in more than 60,000 mt a month into Afghanistan and neighbouring countries, de Gaay Fortman said. In terms of the operation in Iran, he said: "Initially, we are trying to send in 30,000 mt over the first two months, but this will be further increased." Of this amount, most was earmarked for Herat and the western region. The region requires some 8,000 mt a month; de Gaay Fortman said the next convoy was scheduled for Thursday. "We have 600 mt ready to go in. Whatever assistance we can bring in from this side to [the northern Afghan city of] Mazar-e Sharif and Herat, where more than half the case load is located, will prove beneficial to the assistance effort being made from Pakistan," he added. According to emergency contingency plans, WFP aims to bring in 490,000 mt to Afghanistan over a six-month period to assist up to 7.5 million vulnerable Afghans, six million of them inside the country. Currently, WFP is enhancing its logistical base in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad. The agency is prepared on the ground for a variety of different scenarios - not just getting food into Afghanistan but also to work with implementing partners on the ground to get food to the refugees should a major exodus occur. Eight additional staff members would be joining the team there for the cross-border operation, the eventual refugee feeding operation in the northeastern Khorasan Province, as well as to monitor the relief activities in the Herat area, de Gaay Fortman said. Given the successful delivery of wheat into Herat on Tuesday - a "logistical test run", according to WFP - food will transferred onto trucks in Mashhad, and then onward to the eastern town of Dogharun on the Iranian side of the border with Afghanistan. Food could also be transported to the southern Turkmen border town of Kushka by rail, but channeled through Iran. Meanwhile, WFP is exploring the possibility of a corridor extending from eastern Turkmen city of Kardzhou southwards to Mazar-e Sharif. WFP wheat arriving in Iran will enter from the southern port of Bandar Abbas, from where it will be transported to Mashhad, or directly to Kushka. However, the Iranian port of Chah Bahar (25.18N 60.38E) on the Gulf of Oman will also be used to bring wheat up to Zahedan near the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan. "We are looking at all sorts of scenarios," de Gaay Fortman said. "Our main objective is to feed the people inside Afghanistan," he stressed.