WFP calls for donations to avert pipeline break

The UN food agency has once again called for "urgent donations" to avoid a major disruption in food distribution to vulnerable people in Sierra Leone, WFP said in its emergency report on Friday. The agency's operations will be "constrained" over the next few months due to shortfalls in vegetable oil, cereals and pulses, it reported. Between 12 to 18 November, WFP distributed 288 mt of food to over 14,800 vulnerable people through various programmes in southern Bo District, eastern Kenema District and in the capital, Freetown. It also delivered 4 mt to an NGO-run feeding project in Kangama in eastern Kailahun District where high malnutrition rates, especially among Liberian refugees, have been reported. From 8-20 November WFP have either prepared or dispatched some 476 mt of food to its NGO partners for distribution under various programmes in the Liberian counties of Bomi, Gbarpolu, Grand Cape Mount, Margibi and Montserrado, WFP said. Recipients of additional WFP aid include refugees, internally displaced people, and vulnerable groups including children. In Guinea between 5-19 November, WFP assisted some 34,800 vulnerable people, including 8,000 flood victims, providing them with 630 mt of food under various programmes.