WFP warns of funding shortfall

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that a lack of resources is threatening the agency's ability to cover the growing needs of Angola's hungry. WFP had estimated that 1.5 million people would be in need of food aid up to December. But the situation has changed rapidly since the peace process, and WFP now expects 1.8 million people would be in need before the end of the year. Peace has triggered a return of displaced people and refugees to their home regions, but they are arriving without food, or seeds and tools to work abandoned fields. "We have 1.8 million people who have very little to eat, and whose survival depends on food aid. If donors do not come forward with funds, we could face a humanitarian tragedy," WFP's Country Director Francisco Roque Castro said in a statement. Presently, WFP has 26 percent funding of the US $233 required to implement its programmes. The agency has appealed for immediate contributions to enable it to undertake the pre-positioning of food stocks to support Angolans until the next harvest. WFP said the poor funding situation would reach a critical point in January when the agency will run out of cereal supplies. The agency also appealed to the government to carry out emergency repairs to the transport infrastructure, saying the onset of the rainy season would make access to remote locations even more difficult. "Several broken bridges, and too small an airstrip have prevented the agency from delivering food to the Mussende quartering area [Kuanza Sul province]. In the case of Ngumbi [Lunda Norte province], where the explosion of landmines forced the temporary suspension of operations, food distribution will resume next week," the agency said. WFP said that despite logistical and funding shortages, it was providing food aid to all but one of the 42 reception areas for former UNITA soldiers and their families. Meanwhile, landmines continue to pose a serious threat to Angolan civilians. Twelve people were killed, and seven others seriously wounded on Wednesday when a vehicle they were travelling in activated an anti-tank mine in the area of Quingla in the north of the country. It was the second such incident in the area in one month, the LUSA news agency reported.