Pockets of need emerge after poor harvest

Pockets of deepening vulnerability are emerging in Angola as erratic weather and the resultant poor harvest force people to move to urban centres in search of food aid. Manuel Cristovao, a World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman in the capital, Luanda, told IRIN that Mavinga town in the eastern province of Kuando Kubango was experiencing an influx of people from the southern regions of the province. "Basically, the situation is that the whole region south of Mavinga is facing food insecurity, caused by a bad harvest as a result of irregular rains ... access problems caused by the danger of landmines, and destroyed bridges and bad road infrastructure," Cristovao said. This meant people were restricted in the areas they could plant and were unable to reach markets, while humanitarian agencies could not reach those in need. "People have been leaving the southern regions and moving to Mavinga in search of food aid because there is no food in their regions. We, the humanitarian community in general, are very concerned about the situation," he added. WFP and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recently organised a field visit for donors "to show them the situation in Mavinga" and drive home the need for urgent funding for aid operations there, as well as in other parts of the country. "It's important to stress that this is just one case. There are other provinces where access to areas remains restricted and where there are still small pockets of food-insecure people - that's why we're calling on donors to keep supporting us," Cristovao noted. The food security situation was particularly bad in parts of the central Planalto region. "If we don't get funding, we'll try to keep the Mavinga office open to assist these vulnerable populations, but we won't be able to provide full rations to them - we will have to give them reduced rations. This might ... reduce their vulnerability but it won't solve their problems, so it's urgent that donors come through with funding so we can assist [people in need] accordingly," Cristovao said. WFP's protracted relief and rehabilitation operation in Angola was acutely underfunded, needing about US $17 million, or 26,000 mt of food, to meet requirements until the end of December 2005.