WFP begins food distribution

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has started to distribute food to 1.2 million Zambians after a sharp decline in food production last year. "We will be distributing the food in 24 districts, mostly rural, through nine NGOs (non-governmental organisations) that we work with on the ground," Richard Ragan WFP Country Director told IRIN. "In total we are looking at about 42,000 mt. However at the moment we have only sourced 12,000 mt which is coming from South Africa," he noted. Ragan said that a family of five would receive one 50 kg bag of maize per month. Zambia is facing a maize shortage after a crop failure in the 2000-2001 season. Output fell by an estimated 30 percent, falling short of the 700,000 mt needed annually. Maize is the staple food for millions of Zambians. In December WFP launched an appeal for US $18 million for Zambia. Ragan described the process as "slow" saying that Germany was the only bilateral donor country that had contributed giving WFP US $1.9 million. "The balance came from WFP's emergency response account which will be paid back should new donors come forward," said Ragan. Meanwhile, Ajay Vashee, president of the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) was quoted as saying that food shortages were expected to last at least until April.