Food aid needs still serious

Food aid needs in Southern Africa remain "substantial" due to erratic weather, deteriorating economies, and the devastating impact HIV/AIDS is having on communities across the region, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday. The agency is asking for US $308 million to provide close to 540,000 mt of food, enough to feed 6.5 million people until June next year. At the peak of last year's emergency operation, WFP was feeding 10.2 million people. "As long as people lack the resources to cope in times of crisis, they will remain vulnerable to natural disasters such as flood and drought, [as well as] economic and political turmoil, and the HIV/AIDS pandemic," James T. Morris, Executive Director of WFP, was quoted as saying. "HIV/AIDS is striking down farmers in Southern Africa before they get a chance to plant their crops and regain the food security that was eroded over the last year." Southern Africa has the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. "Across the region there has been an alarming increase in the number of households headed by children, the chronically ill and grandparents. Furthermore, because productivity in the agricultural sector is the hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, food shortages are likely to persist," the WFP statement said. Zimbabwe is facing enormous food security challenges. Although crop production improved this year, overall cereal output remained 40 percent below the five-year average, with the southern districts again being severely affected by drought. Compounding the situation, WFP said, is the economic disruption stemming from the land redistribution programme and inflation, which is running close to 300 percent. There are an estimated 3,800 deaths per week from HIV/AIDS, and infant mortality rates have also doubled since 1998. In Zambia, "families are simply disappearing at an alarming rate. Two out of three households that have lost a mother have dissolved. Among those that have lost a father, household income has dipped more than 80 percent." In Swaziland, more than 38 percent of mothers attending pre-natal clinics test HIV-positive, and one child in five under the age of 15 will be orphaned by 2005. The most disturbing prediction is that life expectancy will fall below 30 years of age by 2010 if current HIV/AIDS trends continue, a level not seen in developed countries since Medieval times. "Supporting people with food aid is the first step we can take to lessen this unimaginable misery, but huge needs persist in non-food requirements," said Morris, who is also the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Needs in Southern Africa. "If current trends in HIV/AIDS rates are not arrested, there'll be catastrophic consequences for this region. If we don't act now, it will be too late to save millions of people – we won't get a second chance at this." Although donors were generous over the last year, particularly in terms of meeting food requirements, there were significant shortages in non-food assistance such as water and sanitation, agricultural inputs such as seeds and tools, educational materials, and medicines. Donors met only 31 percent of the US $143.6 million needed for non-food interventions, WFP said. The continuing food crisis mainly affects Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland. Zambia and Malawi have produced significantly better harvests this year and food aid will only be targeted at the most vulnerable groups in those countries – primarily people with HIV/AIDS and children involved in school feeding programmes. Mozambique, which is the fourth poorest country in the world, continues to suffer from the effects of a devastating cycle of floods, cyclones and droughts over the last four years. Significant crop failures have occurred in the central and southern areas. In Lesotho, cereal production is about 60 percent of the five-year average but sharply declining employment opportunities have also reduced peoples' ability to buy food, a phenomenon seen across the region. A recent WFP and Food and Agriculture Organisation assessment estimated that cereals production in the region rose from 5.4 million mt in 2001/2002 to about 6.5 million mt in 2003/04. However, the food gap across the six countries for the next year stands at about 2.5 million mt. "WFP would particularly welcome cash contributions from governments this year, to enable the agency to support local economies. With the overall regional improvement in cereal output in parts of the region - South Africa is expected to produce about a 2.2 million-mt surplus and Malawi, northern Mozambique and Zambia are expecting improved harvests - WFP sees buying opportunities that will help the region's agricultural sector," the agency said.