WFP faces food shortage

The World Food Programme (WFP) says its Protracted Relief and Recovery Operations (PRRO) for coastal West Africa faces an "immediate" shortfall of more than 4,200 mt of food, including cereals, pulses, oil and sugar. The estimate is based on the latest information on shipments scheduled to arrive by the end of the year, WFP said on 2 November in its latest weekly emergency update. It noted that 104,943 mt of food was required for the new PRRO, to be implemented during 2002. Given lengthy procurement processes, WFP said, donors needed to pledge 26,000 mt of food urgently to cover the amount required during the first half of the year. A critical shortage of pulses is "a major cause of concern", especially in Sierra Leone and Liberia, the agency said. The lack of pulses in food distributions would "severely diminish" the impact of WFP assistance on the nutritional status of the targeted beneficiaries, it noted. WFP added that the shortfalls in oil, sugar and corn-soya blend were "particularly worrying" as they affect therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes targeting vulnerable individuals. The agency distributed 733 mt of food to about 74,300 vulnerable people in Sierra Leone last week.