Conference to examine regional food crisis

High-level discussions on Southern Africa's food crisis, to be held in Johannesburg on Thursday, are expected to attract representatives from a wide range of aid agencies, donors, and regional governments, the World Food Programme (WFP) said in a statement. The two-day meeting follows warnings by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WFP that more than 10 million people in six Southern African countries are threatened with starvation over the next year. The discussions will centre on reviewing the results of the recent FAO/WFP Food and Crop Supply Assessments, as well as other aid agency mission findings. The implications of the crisis over the next 12 months will be discussed, as will the humanitarian response needed and resources required to address food and non-food needs, WFP said. "Lastly, and very importantly, a coherent approach to the crisis will be determined by bringing together all the key stakeholders at this critical moment in the humanitarian response," the statement added. Thursday's meeting is a special session called by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), a body of United Nations and non-governmental organisations which regularly meet on humanitarian issues. It will be co-chaired by Jean-Jacques Graisse, WFP Deputy Executive Director and Ross Mountain, Assistant Emergency Relief Coordinator of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The logistical challenges of delivering massive amounts of food aid and other commodities to the countries in the region, many of which are land-locked, will also be discussed. The devastating impact of food shortages on HIV/AIDS affected people will be another important topic. A series of multi-sectoral food assessment missions were made to Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland over the last few months to quantify the extent of the regional food crisis. The countries where shortages are at their most critical are Zimbabwe, where six million people are in need of food aid, and Malawi with 3.2 million people facing hunger.