Break in food pipeline looms

The World Food Programme (WFP) says it needs help urgently to continue feeding about 19,500 mainly Angolan refugees in Namibia beyond March. WFP spokesperson Penelope Howarth told IRIN on Monday that the agency would run out of all food rations at the end of March. "The break in the food pipeline is because we are waiting on donor contributions. We are looking at a pipeline break for corn soya blend and for sugar by the end of February and we will run out of all food commodities by the end of March," she said. Howarth said the majority of refugees receiving food aid were at Osire, Namibia's main refugee camp. A few hundred others were being fed at transit centres. They included people who were rounded up by Namibian authorities for being in the country illegally, those who presented themselves to the UNHCR to avoid arrest, and people who were waiting for their families from Angola. The majority of Angolans who have sought refuge in Namibia come from the central and southern provinces of Angola, which have seen vicious battles between government soldiers and rebel UNITA troops for at least five years. While a few have risked returning to their homes during a lull in military activity over the years, others have not been able to do so. Howarth said WFP's operations in Namibia cost about US $1.4 million last year. This year the agency needed about US $2 million. "With the number of people we are feeding increasing all the time, the cost of the operation keeps increasing too," she said. Shell recently donated 11 mt of sugar beans to WFP, while the Swedish, American and Finnish governments made critical contributions last year, Howarth said. "We are looking for both (cash and commodities). Cash is more flexible in that we can then meet our most urgent needs. But at the same time, commodity donations are also appreciated. What we need most urgently at this point is corn soya blend and sugar," she added.