WFP "extremely concerned" about food security in Kuito

The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Wednesday that an estimated 200,000 people in the Angolan city of Kuito,
about 560 km southeast of Luanda, would face starvation if the landing strip at the city's airport was not repaired.

"We are very afraid of what might happen. The nutritional situation in Kuito, which is already extremely precarious, will turn into a terrible disaster if food does not begin to arrive in normal quantities within the next two weeks," Ronald Sibanda, WFP representative in Angola said.

He added: "We need to transport a minimum of 3,000 mt per month just to keep up with the demand. Right now it is simply impossible to meet current food requirements."

WFP said that at present it had enough food stocks in the city to last about two weeks and that if the airport was not repaired within that period of time, it would be impossible to distribute full monthly rations to about 203,000 beneficiaries who are due to receive food at the beginning of May.

Sibanda said that the landing strip was "littered with potholes" and that pilots should not be required to risk their lives landing and taking off on such a damaged runway.

"Other air operations have already refused to land in Kuito two weeks ago. We have carried on up to now with at most three cargo planes per day when we normally need to send seven, but it is impossible to continue," he said.

WFP said that up to now the only safe and reliable way to deliver food to Kuito has been by air. It said that WFP had tried to transport food by road but "security conditions" and the state of the bridges made it impossible to deliver "the necessary quantities". "The only viable alternative is to
repair the landing strip in Kuito."

WFP said that it had already begun to prioritise food supplies to the most vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, in its latest update WFP said that during April it planned to distribute food to an estimated 1.3 million Angolans, with the largest individual programme being in Huambo, some 550 km southwest of Luanda, where there are over 300,000 beneficiaries.