Food aid needs could rise as lean season approaches

Funding shortages continue to bedevil food aid distributions in Lesotho as the country grapples with yet another year of shortages. The tiny country needs food aid for more than half a million people despite a bigger maize crop this year, while the loss of farming skills due to HIV/AIDS is mounting. "Right now, we are in a position to assist between 250,000 to 300,000 in need and that is a fair effort, given the limited resources we are working with," World Food Programme (WFP) deputy director Mads Lofvall told IRIN on Tuesday. "We would have preferred to assist all those who need help, but so far it appears that those who are not receiving aid are either surviving on left-over stocks from last year or are drawing on other coping mechanisms," he added. Lofvall said the the UN food agency would remain vigilant, especially during the "lean period" - from December to the March/April harvest - as the number of people in need could increase. Prices usually rise during the lean season, when maize is scarcest in the market and people have consumed their own reserves. "It is important to note that Lesotho is a country which relies quite heavily on remittances, and that income is fairly irregular. Also, the recent closures of textile mills have seriously impacted on household incomes. If these retrenchments continue, it is likely to add to the level of vulnerability," he warned. The agency would keep a close watch on food security reserves as the lean period approached, because a high rate of HIV infection - close to 30 percent of adults - and AIDS mortality among the farming community had also slashed food output in recent years. Lofvall highlighted that a funding shortfall had necessitated a dramatic reduction of the 100,000 orphans previously receiving assistance. "We had no option but to reduce aid to just a third of that number, which was difficult decision," he noted. As WFP gears up to assist up to 10 million people facing food insecurity across southern Africa, the agency has gone to great lengths to impress upon donors the need for speedy action. Last week WFP Deputy Executive Director Sheila Sisulu said WFP was racing against time to ensure that sufficient food aid was delivered to the six worst-affected southern African countries, including Malawi, to prevent mass suffering before next April. "Hunger doesn't have to be inevitable in Africa," Sisulu noted, "but once food needs start to peak it will be too late for many of the weakest, especially children, and the cost of saving lives will escalate significantly".